Friday Favorites: Season

Those who know me well may think they already know the answer to this...but do they?? Even I am shocked by my answer because, for the first time in my life, I have a new favorite season!

Growing up, it was a no-brainer...I had the same favorite season as every other kid I knew: summer. Summer = friends and sun and water. (Not to mention a break from school!). Summer meant spending hours at the pool each day, staying out late playing with friends in the neighborhood, having middle of the week sleep-overs, watching Matlock in the mornings, and not having to do homework.

As I got older, I still favored summer. Though I spent much less time at the pool, I still had fun staying out way too late with friends (...but had to get up and work early the next morning) and I really, really, REALLY loved the break from homework.

And most of all, I loved the warm weather! Or perhaps it was more that my disdane for cold weather grew exponentially once I hit about 16. That must be when the appeal of playing in the snow wears away and the reality of scrapping car windows starts to set in. All I know is that at some point, I realized that I hated being cold...and hence, I loved summer. (There is a very real possibility that my affinity for summer and my distaste for winter has at least something to do with being raised in a home whose winter thermostat never went above, say, 64 degrees, despite the free-hee-zing temperatures!).

But my feelings have slowly changed. Now that I am all finished with school and homework, that summer perk is gone. Also, my husband loves building cozy fires for us all winter long, so I no longer have to wear my coat in the house to avoid turning into a popsicle! And here in Virginia, there is little need for scrapping car windows (except for last winter, but I had a newborn babe and didn't leave the house much anyway), so one less reason to depise winter.

Last winter, even though I was about to pop with Augustine, I actually really enjoyed the season. With 20 extra pounds of baby-ness to keep me warm, I didn't notice the cold as much. And I even enjoyed getting bundled up and going outside for a walk in the brisk air...ok, not as much as I enjoyed curling up in front of the fire for a little nap, sipping warm drinks, and staying in my flannel pjs all day, but still...

On the other hand, I have just nearly survived my first summer with an infant and let.me.tell.you, heat and babies are tough to mix! In the past few months, we have paid visits to beaches, lakes, and pools and had a blast...but it is no longer a day at the beach or an afternoon at the pool, it is an hour at the beach or the pool after an hour of getting ready for the hour at the beach or the pool. It seems like before you know it, it is time to eat...or time to nap...or it's too hot...or he's too cold. Laying out is a thing of the past. Reading a magazine while lounging in a beach chair is unthinkable. You have to think about bug nets, sun hats, stroller visors, swim diapers, sippy cups, etc.

Alas, for this year at least, I am finally on the it's just too hot! bandwagon.

But I am not ready to go all the way and adopt winter as my favorite season, so for now, as the mother of an almost 8 month old, living in temperate Richmond, VA, I can honestly say that autumn is my new favorite season! I am already looking forward to lighting my fall scented candles and plugging in my pumpkin spice wall flowers, wearing my favorite sweaters, baking, carving pumpkins, roasting smores in our fire pit, going on walks without *glowing*, and appreciating (more than I ever have before) cooler temperatures.

(But when we move back to CO, where "winter" starts in October and ends in April, summer just may be my favorite again!)