I know that there are crazy people who profess that they enjoy winter. I don’t think they’ve ever lived through a winter in Boston. My favorite season, by far, is summer, when fresh food is varied and abundant, it’s fun to be outdoors and active, and everyone seems to want to make the most of the long, sun-filled days. It takes a bit more effort for me to force myself outside if I know I’m going to be cold even with a coat, scarf, mittens, earmuffs, and long underwear.
But fall in Boston is glorious. There’s vibrant foliage, an influx of college students—which infuses the city with an incomparable energy—and tons of great outdoor activities. Not to mention the abundance of apples and pumpkins and all the treats derived from them. However, even in the face of all of this goodness, I have a tendency to see fall merely as a gateway to the long, hard Boston winter, and miss out on the awesomeness of the season. So I’m especially thankful that my brother is visiting this weekend, because even though there’s a chill in the air that forced us to turn on our heat and is making me debate whether I should cave in and start wearing a winter coat, he’s also given us a good reason to get out of the house and take advantage of all of the great fall things the city has to offer.
So far we’ve taken the dog down to the Rose Kennedy Greenway, where we got lunch from one of Boston’s new food trucks (yes, Boston was way behind on the food truck craze) and soaked in some sunshine while we read for a few hours. Then we made our way down to the Head of the Charles Regatta with a friend who rows crew and was able to explain some of the finer points of the sport to us. A coworker of Dan’s helped us navigate dim sum in Chinatown. And now we are visiting a few of Boston’s finest educational institutions for my brother to talk to professors with connections to PhD programs he’s interested in pursuing.
Yes, I’ve had to bundle up with a jacket and a scarf for all of these excursions, but they’ve been a great reminder that I shouldn’t go in to hibernation quite yet. I’m hoping to hold on to that reminder as long as I can, so that I don’t let what is coming rob me of enjoying what’s right in front of me right now. What’s your favorite season?
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