Fall

November 2nd, 2025

In the Midwest, when most people are asked which season is their favorite, most would say Spring. They are tired of the long period of cold and short dark days of winter. They tire of slow commutes to work on ice and snow. Wearing layered clothing and heavy coats gets old. But, Spring is not my favorite.

Spring is a sloppy season of rain sometimes still mixed with snow. Days start to warm, but get interspersed with cold dreary days. I used to like spring, but 10 years of owing horses and living on a small hobby farm changed my mind. Paddocks are muddy, so horses are muddy, and so, you are muddy. Insects start to arrive, so you have to deal with them. You anticipate warmer days that take forever to arrive. The length of the daylight increases almost imperceptibly. You drive to work looking into the sun, but that passes. Then you switch to Daylight Savings Time and you are back to looking into the sun.

I learned to prefer the Fall. The heat of summer passes. Dust and humidity are gone. Insects are gone. Days are brisk and the air seems clean. I see blaze orange vests worn by pheasant hunters and I wish I was out there, walking the swales and fence lines, my dog Clyde working ahead. People go back to work, vacations over, children are back in school or college. The summer crowds are gone and you have the outdoors to yourself. In the mountains, snow starts to appear on the higher peaks. Bull elk are bugling. Geese and Sandhill Cranes are calling as they pass overhead on southward migrations.

Now in my later years, Fall is still my favorite season, though I no longer experience some of the events from younger years. The horses were long since sold. The farm is gone. Clyde, my English Setter, could no longer see or hear. One windy fall day, I put him to rest. He lies in the horse paddock behind the barn. I never hunted again after that. I didn’t do a lot of things after that.

I still love the fall.