Skepticism

Afternoon Inquisition 11.8

Here in Minnesota, we had our first real snow of the season yesterday, putting an end to one of the more gorgeous autumns in recent memory. Now begins the cold and snow and terrible driving conditions that can sometimes last well into May. Ugh. I personally would not complain if we had summer all year round (I know, I know…why in the hell am I still living here?). Anyway, this leads me to ask:

What is your favorite season? Why? If you could have it always be your favorite season, would you?

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31 Comments

  1. Winter. Miramichi winter, not Halifax winter. I.e., snow that you can make a fort in, have snowball fights with, and play winter sports on. Not slushy crap.

  2. Autumn. Cool crisp air, Long nights, golden sunny days. Or gray drizzly days, those are great also. But no I wouldn’t have it all the time. It wouldn’t be as special.

  3. I miss Minnesota weather… our snow here in Pittsburgh rarely stays around for longer than a couple weeks :(

    I don’t have a favorite seasons, but I love the change of seasons. To me the first snowfall is beautiful and wonderful… as is the first snowmelt of spring, the first 90-degree day of summer, and the first chill of fall.

    Go figure.

  4. Autumn. I hate hot weather, and autumn is a sign that better things are to come as the weather finally cools down. Winter comes a close second, but I decided I like autumn more since living in places with deciduous trees (I grew up in country Western Australia, but both the Australian cities I have lived in have non-native deciduous trees), so I was able to enjoy the changing colours and gusts of wind blowing the leaves around. The crisp sunny days are a little nicer in autumn too.
    My favorite autumn and winter was the one I spent living in the UK. Man I miss it, especially as Australia is currently descending into summer :(

  5. Having just spent a year in Singapore, the fact there are seasons at all is great. Singapore has three: hot, hotter and hot with rain.

    In a place with seasons, I love autumn, or a winter where it gets clear and crisp, but not too cold.

  6. Summer. The long days and warm weather make it much easier to get around by bicycle. It’s not so much the cold and the weather that makes winter more difficult and dangerous; it’s the short daylight hours. In general, however, I love the change of the seasons. I love breathing icy winter air, sweating buckets in the summer doing honest work, the smell of damp fall leaves, and the first edibles of spring. Really, it is all good.

    I promised myself I’d stop compulsively, drunkenly surfing the web after the election was over, but here I am back for some hair of the blog. Sigh.

  7. Oh and my favorite *day* of the year is the day that it’s sunny out and I notice for the first time that the trees are green again after winter. The contrast of the green leaves on the blue sky mixed with the cool breeze and sun on my walk to campus…best day of the year.

  8. Summer: Ours are not to hot and generally dry. All my favorite outdoor activities work better in good weatherĆ¢ā‚¬Ā¦, golf, hiking, camping, drinking a gin and tonic in a teak deck chair, under the Asian pear tree while reading a good book. I grew up where the winters are really cold and I enjoyed that. I also like cool crisp fall days. Typically we have cold windy and rainy fall days. ItĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s been windy and pouring for the past three days and I just finished cleaning out some gutters…, so today fall sucks.

  9. Living in central CA, the weather doesn’t change that much, but I have access to all four seasons with a 3 or four hour drive from me. That’s ideal in my opinion…. The option to change it up is nice.

  10. Autumn is definitely my favorite season. I love the smell of the leaves and the cool air on my nose. Fall colors are a nice bonus. Give me a cup of hot cider on a cool autumn evening, and for me that’s heaven.

    As much as I love it, I don’t think I would wish for autumn all the time, though. I think I appreciate it more because it’s such a contrast with summer. In fact, I appreciate all the seasons more because I know they’re all transitional. It helps me try to appreciate the here and now.

  11. Any season in which you get to travel to and from work in daylight, in which you don’t need central heating nor air-conditioning, in which the garden is not so dry that you fear lighting a match anywhere near, and where you can sit outside till 11pm-ish without freezing to death, and where in a month you can have at least 10 days without rain.

    I don’t ask for much.

  12. I’d like a year-round combination of all the best aspects of each season. A light film of snow and dew decorates the vibrant blades of grass, while the sun shines happily overhead and the leaves tint a merry red.

  13. Summer is by far my favorite. I love it when everything’s green and gardens are full of flowers. I live in Calgary though so it really never lasts long enough!

  14. I lived in southern california, and one of my reasons for leaving was the endless summer. I grew up in Massachusetts, and one of my excuses for moving to California was the obnoxious winters. As a kid, I loved them… Outgre it right after college. Another reason to bail on New England was the awful summer humidity (and bugs).

    Fall gets an edge on spring because I prefer the festivities (and food). Leaves are also nice. And I associate fall with new classes, new friends, and a sense of academic wonder without the fatigue. Plus, women look hot in sweaters and no coat.

    And I agree with the consensus that change is good.

  15. I miss winter – WV has what we would call a long autumn, based on our time in upstate WI. My wife is from Rochester, NY, so she’s all too familiar with large amounts of white stuff appearing. I laugh at people here trying to cope with their “winter” weather. I’m jealous, carrd2d. We get spring, SUMMER, fall, fall here. :-p

    Summer here is much like Hell – lots of very hot, sticky weather with little wind. It’s even worse down in DC, about an hour from here. You can tell that DC was built on a malarial swamp. It feels like it for about 1/3 of the year.

    I like the march of the seasons. I worked outdoors for over 20 years and loved them all equally. Though there were days in WI when I probably would have said otherwise after spending a couple hours in the deicing bucket, hosing down jets with 180F glycol/water.

    I do agree with Kimbo, though. Snow’s not much fun unless it’s sticky enough to make snowballs and snowmen. :-D

  16. Oh fall, please don’t go away. Illinois winters are proof that nature is an unconscious, unfeeling process.

    Autumn is all colorful, and makes you feel all warm inside.

  17. There are many reasons why I feel the way I do about this, but the primary reason is that I cannot tolerate heat very well, especially if it is the heat of direct sunlight, exacerbated by humidity. In the other hand, it takes quite a bit to make me feel cold, and weather that most people would bundle up in I prefer to enjoy in a T-shirt and shorts.

    That being said, winter, for sure. Down here in Georgia, summers are quite hot and very humid; not at all enjoyable! If that weren’t bad enough, the particulate matter from car emissions “binds” to the water vapor in the air and turns the sky a dull gray color. The sky is rarely ever blue during the hotter months. Oh, and the bugs too, jesus christ, the bugs.

    Winter is my favorite season. Clear blue skies, no heat or humidity, no bugs, Christmas presents and visits from friends and family, and many other awesome things. It is often overcast and rainy here during the cold months, and that combined with the lack of foliage creates a stark atmosphere that lends itself well to black and white photography.

    Autumn can be pretty, and the mild weather is nice, but I feel that my personality is more “winterish”. Also, I am not that into that kind of color photography.

    Spring is enjoyable as long as it isn’t too warm or buggy. It is certainly no winter, though.

  18. Having moved to Western WI (not too far from MN) after living in DC and various parts of VA most of my life?

    I’ll take the cold and snow. Oh sure, there are a few really freakin’ cold days that suck, and by March or so shoveling the driveway gets old. But it’s leagues better than the excessive heat and humidity of DC. Easier to warm up than cool down.

  19. Autumn! It’s the best. The chill, the clear skies, the perfect biking weather, the heaps of steam pouring out of my mug of chai tea right this very instant, the pretty leaves out my window, Halloween! Best time of the year.

    After that, I love the first two months of winter after snowfall and tolerate the rest. The less humid bits of summer are fabulous, and Spring is a muddy wreck that I don’t really care for until the end.

  20. @Chasmosaur: Sure you don’t want to trade? I absolutely hate the summers here. It would be uninhabitable for me without A/C. I don’t do heat well anymore, either.
    It sounds as if you’re near either Eau Claire or LaCrosse. We love the Northwoods. We used to live in Green Bay, Wausau and Rhinelander. Still miss it.

  21. They say we have only 2 seasons in Minnesota: Winter and Road Construction. It’s probably a fair thing to say.

    As for my favorite season: whichever season is coming up. I find myself always looking forward to an end to the current heat/rain/cold/naked trees.

  22. Summer. I hate being cold, I’m happier, wear cuter clothes and I’m much healthier since I exercise more in the summer. (And eat better too.)
    I had enough Nebraska winters in thigh deep snow and mile long walks to the bus stop for the first eleven years of my life.
    So it makes perfect sense that I make my home in Oregon, right?

  23. Gotta go with summer. Love long road bike rides in the summer heat.

    That said, I moved back home to Minnesota sixteen years ago from Cincinnati precisely because of the lack of winter in southern oHIo. After five brutish summers and drizzly, slushy winters I found myself strangely driven back north.

    Something about having four defined seasons that is comforting. We go from -35 to +100 degrees here and that’s OK.

  24. I’m one of those wierd Minnesotans that actually likes the cold. I’d take -10 over 80 & humid anyday.

  25. My favorite season? Hawaii (granted, the last few weeks have been toasty and relatively low wind, but nothing a fan can’t handle.)

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