In this moment, I am livid.
I walk out my door with a face of utter disgust. I huff in frustration. It is 80 degrees outside.
The auburn leaves have barely made their glamorous appearance. The biting morning chill has yet to give me goosebumps. I am sweating through my fall attire while picking Honeycrisp apples.
Everyone is complaining about the July-like heat. I have to blast cold air into my car so I don’t suffocate in my makeshift oven. I have to peel off layers and change into shorts because the humidity is making me burn up.
This isn’t the autumn I envisioned.
I want fall. I want to rake piles of crunchy leaves and run through them as fast as I can. I want to bite through the world’s best pumpkin glazed donut—crunchy on the outside and warm and spongy on the inside—and sip cold apple cider on the side. I want to carve vibrant jack-o-lanterns and make disgusted faces at the “guts” while I try to scrape them all out. I want to give my pumpkin a silly name and make it best friends with my sister’s.
I want to be buried underneath layers of blankets and feel the autumn air wish me goodnight.
I want to revel in the warm colors adorning the maple trees. I want to stop in my tracks and take numerous pictures, because how often does autumn happen anyway? I yearn to see my hot breath against the cold morning air while I walk to my car. Though, in the moment, I may be complaining about how I can’t feel my hands, I truly wouldn’t have it any other way.
I want to soak up every ounce of my favorite season. I shame those who long to skip over the best months of the year and go straight to the winter holidays. I am counting down the days until I can taste the savory turkey and sweet homemade cranberry sauce. I love waking up promptly at nine in the morning to enthusiastically watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is far less entertaining than I remember it being when I was younger; nevertheless, I still watch.
I want to dress up as a random character for the night and still be young enough to go trick-or-treating. I miss the feeling of my toes freezing from trekking through my entire neighborhood and coming home to my dad preparing a blazing fire. I would prop my feet on the fireplace and let myself get nice and toasty in my cabin socks.
I want to sort out my candy and choose which ones I will eat while watching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! I want to snuggle up in my warmest blanket and laugh at the same jokes I have heard every year as if it’s my first time viewing the movie.
I want to take scorching hot showers that will warm me up better than any hoodie or blanket could ever accomplish. I want to crawl into my bed with my windows wide open and my fan on high. I want to be buried underneath layers of blankets and feel the autumn air wish me goodnight.
It is now October, and I still have yet to experience a single one of my favorite things. Yes, I am livid, but impatience is one of my worst qualities.
Autumn is on her way, and I am ready to run to her with open arms.
