I used the title Autumn instead of Fall because it's possible that many of you think Phoenix doesn't have the season Fall.
When I first moved here, I didn't think Phoenix had Fall either. When it can still hit 90's in November, that hardly feels Autumn-ish.
Now that I've been in Phoenix for 5 Summers, (that's how I mark my time in the Grand Canyon State.... by the number of Summers we have survived), I've come to realize the subtle nuance's of my favorite season, even here, in the desert.
Don't get me wrong, it will never be like places where the trees turn yellow and the the nights are cold. But for Phoenix, Fall does exist. Here are some of the cues I've noticed that signals Summer 2009 is finally and officially OVER!
*At 9 p.m., it's equal temps inside and out. Last night it was 82 degrees inside my house and a quick check at weather.com told me it was also 82 degrees outside. But, the outside actually FELT like 80 degrees. So, at that point, I gave the green light to open up all the windows!
*It's below 70 degrees in the morning when I'm driving Taylor to school at 6:15. Waking up to a cool (not cold, mind you) morning feels so refreshing after 4 months of 24 hour heat.
*You know Fall is here when you can complete your entire Tooth Brushing ritual and not have your tap water get warm. (Warm tap water in the Summer is one of my biggest pet peeves about being down here!)
*The bushes are in full bloom. My plants are also rejoicing at the break in the heat and I was able to cut back my watering on the plants, trees and the lawn!
*My alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m. to take Taylor to school. In the summer, the sun comes up before 5 a.m., so there's no watching the sunrise. I've actually seen several beautiful sunrises in the last two weeks while I'm on driving duty (and I've been driving with the windows down and loving every minute of it!)
*This morning, I came home from school drop-off and opened every window I could, and started taking down what was left of my "black-out" shades in the windows. We have officially been "de-caved". (I just made that word up!)
*And last but not least, I can wear my hair down all day without feeling like I'm going to suffocate, pass out, or melt. (Yes, I still get sweaty in the afternoon... but any small improvement is a good thing, right?)
Today I'm going to celebrate Autumn by putting up my Halloween decorations. The 10 day forecast for the next 10 days is looking pretty amazing, so I'm going to soak up every ounce of it!
3 comments:
I was so happy this morning when I got up and actually had to put on a sweatshirt to go running!
We had snow in the valley yesterday (not sticking), and the mountains are white. My boys always say the mountains look like they are on fire, or have lava streaming down them. It's definitely fall here, too! I don't know if I could survive those Arizona summers of yours.
I am excited. I'm going to take a look at the 15 day forecast and if I'm confident about it I'm going to open the windows and cut the A/C off during certain hours!
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