Of the four seasons, Fall is my third favorite with winter trailing behind it. To be clear I consider Autumn as the season that takes place between the first day of sweatshirt weather and the first snowfall that sticks. Judging it that way Fall is usually 45-60 days long, relatively short for a season. There are a number of reasons that make me rank it so low but I don't want to dwell on the negatives today. I'm trying to be more optimistic. So I'm here to present you with a list of my 5 favorite things about fall:

5.Sleeping - It's too cold for the AC and too hot for the heat but a perfect temp for a cracked window. In the morning it can be a bit of a shock and make you want to stay tucked in and toasty. Even better is when there are nights with grey skies and a light drizzle tickling the windowpane. Occasional lightning and thunder? Expect an outstanding slumber.

4. Halloween  - I used to love trick or treating and going to haunted houses and carving pumpkins. As I got older, going out to bars and clubs and house parties on the 31st was always an especially wild time. Just being out late at night walking down sidewalks filled with, usually intoxicated, costumed merry makers was always a lot of fun. Lately my favorite parts of Halloween have shifted. I love roasting pumpkin seeds once the actual day is over and of course I love giving out candy. There's a yearly debate in our house about what candies to buy and how much. I think I'm going to go tomorrow and get an extra big bag of assorted Haribo treats to go along with the Kit Kats, Almond Joys and Carmel Apple suckers my wife bought. If we don't have to dip into the Gummies for the kids no worries. More for me.

3. Outerwear - I love wearing long sleeves and hoodies and flannels and sweatshirts and windbreakers and this is the perfect weather for them. Sometimes I wear a bunch of them together and then discard them when I start to overheat. Pretty soon it'll be winter and I'll be going out with my huge arctic coat on so these will return to hibernate in the closet. I know I can wear these in the Spring too but after months of wearing a huge arctic coat I'm always ready to be outside in a t-shirt even if it's still too cold. Autumn is the best outerwear season.

2. Urgency - This is the time of year when I start getting anxious about snow so all the spots I've wanted to check out or long bike rides I've been putting off start taking top priority. You never know when the last warm day will be so when you see one coming up you make sure to get out and make the most of it. I've still got a couple adventures on deck for the next couple weeks. I'm hyped!

1. Leaves - The changing colors of the leaves is amazing, especially when you go somewhere with a dense concentration of trees. Crunching along the sidewalk thru mounds of dry leaves is awesome. I always get a little kid shuffle and kick my way along. Every Halloween we used to take old clothes and stuff them full of leaves (with an old pillow case for the head) to make spooky dummies. Raking leaves is tedious but can be fun. Jumping in piles of raked leaves is more fun. If you go far enough from the city you can smell burning leaves. Autumn is good fire weather and the smell of burning leaves hits me in the smiling memory portion of my mind.