It’s ‘tween’ season
Is your furnace on? Or maybe your air conditioner? This past week’s weather is just about the type that might have you using both in one day!
Fall is possibly my favorite season for so many reasons, ranging from the pretty, colorful foliage to football to lower humidity and comfy, mild, sunny afternoons with crisp, cool mornings. Just the kind of weather to make you want to enjoy a hot cup of coffee in the mornings wearing a sweatshirt or fleece jacket, and then throwing it off for some short sleeves and sunglasses by mid-afternoon.
I like to refer to this type of weather as “tween season,” since we’re between hot and cold, between shorts and jeans and between air-conditioning and heating. Spring brings a similar conundrum, not knowing if it will snow or rain or whether you’ll need a rain slicker or a heavier coat.
I heard fall referred to a few years ago with the term “shoulder season” and I thought it sounded so funny. That means it’s the time of year when travel is less busy than during peak season, but the conditions are still good for travel. I am guessing the phrase “shoulder season” means fall and spring are the shoulders of peak travel season with either summer or winter holidays being the “head?”
I read a fun reference to the origin of that phrase as meaning people “shrug off” the popularity and high prices of peak travel season by going during shoulder season. Maybe the weather during fall could also be considered “shoulder season” conditions since we’re not in the throes of summer heat or winter chill.
The fall “shoulder” weather or “tween season” also means we’re just between mowing the lawn and shoveling snow in our part of the country. That can be a good thing, giving us time to relax and spend less of it doing yardwork or clearing the sidewalk and driveway.
Then again, there are those pesky leaves. Those fall late in the tween/shoulder season and always keep showing up again when a stiff wind picks up right after you rake.
Spring shoulder/tween season may mean a little bit of everything: still the chance you might have to shovel snow or chip away ice but very soon after getting the lawnmower ready to go for that first mow in March or April.
With the warm 70-degree temperatures of the last week or so each afternoon, it still feels a little bit more like early September or even late August to me but with the benefit of lower dew points and less humidity. My potted geraniums are tucked away inside the sun porch for the winter, and my rake and leaf blower are ready to go for the next few weeks of falling leaves.
Until then, enjoy the sunshine, trees popping into rich rusts and glowing golds and being “tween” hot and cold!
Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.