Now that we have established that it is, in fact, NOT fall, I am going to explain to you why it is also wrong for you to want it to be fall.
Tsk, tsk. There is unfortunately no discussion to be had with people possessed of an irrational aversion to gorgeous, cool weather and nature’s own fireworks display. We can, however, address this pernicious calendrical prescriptivism, which would have us referring to the twentieth of December as “fall.” Does that feel true to anyone’s lived experience? As a calendrical descriptivist, I seek to describe popular usage, rather than rely on astronomical “experts” to impose my views. Hence, fall began on September the first at twelve a.m. and will continue until the beginning of winter on December the first at twelve a.m. March the first, June the first, you see how this goes. Simple and intuitive.
Timpf is also wrong in saying we should not want it to be fall, and I can easily prove it. Bugs are dying by the truckload. I rest my case.
September 12, 2019 @ 12:56 pm
We had a very pleasant summer in the Pacific Northwest. I think we ran our air conditioner (window unit) fewer than ten times. And there was no wildfire smoke this year. So I have nothing to complain about, but I still get a thrill when the leaves start turning (now) and I can see my breath in the flashlight beam when I take the dog out before bed (last night). I second your motion to make Sept 1 the official beginning of fall.
September 12, 2019 @ 1:12 pm
Thank you. It’s only rational, isn’t it? Yet you wouldn’t believe the pushback I get from some quarters when I mention it.
Our summer was very dry. Yesterday and today have brought us (what I hope are) the last days of furnace-like heat in the mid-90s. Late evenings are still a bit too humid, but between 5:30 to 6 a.m., when we’re going to the gym, it’s still very dark and delightfully chilly. Yes, that first instance of breath in cold air is a seasonal favorite. I just hope the leaf display doesn’t suffer too badly for the lack of rain.