Falling For Autumn – The US Take On This Season
As a Brit, I love autumn. As a Brit in America, I’m rather in awe of fall. It’s way more than just a season for these guys. Let me share with you ten things that happen here at this time of year.
- Mood.
Mostly, American kids go back to school in the middle of August. Don’t feel bad for them, by this point they’ve been on ‘vacay’ for quarter of a year! But back to school happens, bringing a change of routine and a definite change of mood that is linked to an expected weather change. I’ve lived in two American states now (Ohio and Kansas), and in both the weather doesn’t change until the end of October. This means, unlike us Brits, Americans have the blissful chance to gradually mourn the passing of summer, under the guise of the premise that it is fall. *Whispers: it’s still summer, by any British definition. That is their mood.
2. External House Décor
Now, please note, I’m not talking about Hallowe’en décor here. That comes later. Nope, this is something different. This is suddenly making your door glow in hues of browns and orange. I’d say one in three homes will sport a beautiful wreath. Some might have a scarecrow, piles of pumpkins and hay bales. In England, most of us just sort of go inside and stay there until spring.
3. Internal House Décor
In America, there is an interiors chain called Pottery Barn. Maybe the closest Brit comparison would be the Habitat end of a John Lewis continuum. I bought a candle there once and hence am on the catalogue mailing list now, catalogues over which I fawn. Beautiful, rustic, light filtered room sets that my personal presence could only spoil. They have a whole catalogue devoted to fall interior décor. Yes ma’am! So that’s cushion covers, plates (yep, whole plate sets just for two months), serving spoons and many, many motivational fall quote plaques.
4. Pumpkin Ingredients
Americans go made for this. Basically, pumpkin spiced anything you can think of. I’ve tried a few things now and I still couldn’t really tell you what pumpkin tastes of. *Whispers: Its cinnamon.
5. Pumpkin Patches
This is partly Hallowe’en related of course, but mostly it isn’t. It’s just about pumpkins. People buy theme for external home décor (see point 2) and for use as an actual ingredient (see point 4.). Pumpkin patches offer you a wheelbarrow and the opportunity to choose big ones, small ones, green ones, perfect ones, ugly ones, and weird ones covered in barnacles. It’s like Christmas tree shopping but more orange and spherical.
6. Fall “Theme Parks”
Usually these are clever and enterprising extensions to the Pumpkin patch (see above). Such theme parks are in fact, just farms really, but farms with a very special seasonal twist. I’ve been to such places and witnessed corn mazes (for anyone who’s seen Children of the Corn, this will be traumatic… Malachai!), corn ‘sand’ pits, pig racing and various rides, innovatively made from farm equipment.
7. Apple Cider
Sounds funbags, right? Are you thinking Scrumpy? Diamond White? Something in a 2-litre plastic bottle bought from Londis? Nope, it’s cloudy apple juice. And it’s everywhere.
8. Leaf-mageddon
Americans don’t call their gardens ‘gardens’. They are yards. But my personal observation is that they are very important and very well-tended. As per the name suggests, in fall, leaves fall. Us Brits I believe would accept this, kicking happily through them as go through our autumnal lives. Americans are less accepting. These leaves must be dealt with. They are rakes, swept and blown and then get taken away by leaf fairies. It didn’t take long for us to receive a polite knee capping warning from our friendly local HOA (Homeowners Association). Gah. Fall.
9. Leaf Safaris
There is, however, another side to leaves. Whilst they are still attached to trees, people will seek out places to drive by to observe the browning leafiness. *It’s quite cool actually.
10. Candy Corn
This is a thing. Candy corn are little sweets that look like extracted yellowing or orangey teeth and taste like a sort of Haribo. Weird. And to Americans as polarising as Marmite.
Do I believe any American Fall should translate into British Autumn? Well, no. I simply don’t think our weather would suit it really. I think it mostly relies on Autumn being a bit summery. Whilst pumpkin sounds nice, it really doesn’t taste of anything and do any of us really want to rake leaves?
*There is something very satisfying though about a corn sandpit.
