Unlike regular seasonal affective disorder (SAD), where people get moody and a bit depressed during the winter due to lack of sunlight and short days, I feel down during the fall because it is TOO DANG SUNNY AND NICE, and frankly it feels way more like summer than fall. I really, really miss fall.
Now people here will tell you that we have fall in San Diego, but that is probably because they are natives and don't really know what fall is supposed to be like. Oh they bring out the pumpkin patches around town, Target does sell hats and gloves (bah!), people go apple-picking, and there are a few trees that change color around here (I have been known to re-route just to drive by certain trees)...but it's not fall...not in my book anyway. To me, it's "fall."
In my mind, you should dress your kids like this for an afternoon at the pumpkin patch:
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Not like this:
And while I'm on the subject of things that should have quotation marks around them (like "fall"), I'm just going to keep it real here for a minute...we don't even have weather in San Diego, we have "weather." Here's my disclaimer, I'm from Chicago where they definitely have WEATHER. And I moved here after 7 years in Colorado where there is also full-fledged WEATHER. But San Diego...no, not much weather. I'm not complaining, just reporting.
The biggest spread between the yearly average low and the yearly average high is less than 30 degrees. Get the picture? Average low in December = 49 (brrrr!). Average high in August = 78 (scorching!). But perhaps in an attempt to fit in with the rest of the country, San Diegans like to talk about weather. There isn't much to talk about. I know, I know, it's all relative, and for native San Diegans it IS weather, and it IS fall, and I try to respect that...I try, but I fail.The weather reports around here are a constant source of entertainment for me because they like to make a really big deal about really little things. The weather people use terms very loosely like "humid" (40-50%, maybe) and "cold" (one time there was frost on our car when we woke up...one time) and "storm" (a little rain, a little wind). This morning I heard someone on the radio say, "It's a chilly morning in San Diego...67." Really? Chilly? In February I remember watching coverage of Chicago's biggest snow storm (3rd biggest in history) and NBC cut to the local San Diego weather guy who honestly said, "It's going to be cold out there today. Bundle up your kids." He was referring to 50s, maybe. I laughed out loud. Bundle up the children? You mean in their light-weight fleece jackets??? These weather people should be a little embarrassed of themselves because the forecast usually looks something like this:
We do have a few interesting weather phenomena here that are worth mentioning, I suppose, like:
- the marine layer (fog and grey skies which often don't clear until mid-morning) It's hard, I know.
- the Santa Ana winds (dry and warm off-shore winds)
- "May grey" and "June gloom"(cloudy overcast skies, often all day long) Don't plan your family
vacation to San Diego during these months. Don't feel bad for us either...remember, avg Dec low = 49.
So back to "fall". I REALLY miss fall. REAL fall.
I miss a nip in the air, and putting on jackets because you have to, not because you want to change your wardrobe. I miss wool and down. I miss seeing my breath in the autumn temperatures. I miss drinking hot beverages because you really need them to heat you up. I miss trick-or-treaters who have to wear warm coats over their cute little costumes and flash you at the door to show you their get-ups. I miss football games huddled together with other hat and glove-wearing individuals. I miss mountainsides of bright, bold, glorious yellow. I miss the build up to snow and Christmas (oh, don't even get me started on how hard it is for me to get in the Christmas spirit here). Pumpkins, candy corn, cider, stew, and changing trees go with COLD weather, not 62 degrees. I've tried the fake it til you make it approach where I dress like it is really cold outside, but you know what? I sweat.
This will be my third "fall" here in San Diego and I can already feel the RSAD coming. If we hadn't traveled so much this summer I would be booking tickets to Chicago. My husband always reminds me that we can drive to the mountains for cooler temps, but that is different than living in it on a day-to-day basis.
I was born and raised in the Midwest. My mother is a winter-loving Scandinavian. I come by this disorder honestly. And I honestly don't think it will change. In some ways I am determined that it NOT change. I don't want to become a weather sell-out and join the ranks of the other weather wimps of California (sorry if that offends you, but it's true). I have a lot of family in the Midwest and I do have some pride and heritage I need to preserve.
And on that note, I am going to look in to tickets to Chicago for Christmas...where it is sure to be frigid and miserable and hopefully white...like Christmas should be.
