Downfall of San Diego: I Miss Fall

It’s getting to that time of year when I want to move from San Diego. I’ve been out here for 9 years and it happens every year around this time.

Every single year.

I miss Fall. Why can't San Diego have scenery like this?

San Diego starts getting hotter in September. Seriously, if you want super hot beach weather in San Diego, come in September or early October. It’s usually a freaking heat wave here during these months (Side Note Tip: Don’t come in June like so many unsuspecting sun and beach worshipers do – you’ll get cloudy weather and end up having to buy a sweatshirt for the evenings). My problem isn’t the heat. I really don’t mind it. What irks me and makes me suddenly decide each year that I can’t live in San Diego anymore is that in countless other states, the air is getting crisp and leaves are starting to change color and cuddly sweaters are beginning to make an appearance.

I miss fall and pretty fallen leaves.

My favorite season is Fall. I love, love, LOVE Fall. San Diego does not have Fall. We go straight from summer into a few intermittent weeks of rain and back to spring/summer weather. I miss Fall – everything about it. I miss the first bite of frost in the air, I miss the golden and red hues rustling on trees, I even miss raking up those golden and red shapes when they fall from the trees. And I miss jumping in leaves. Am I going to bring children into a world where they don’t get to jump in leaves – and won’t even know the season so don’t know why they should miss Fall in the first place?! Oh, the horror.

It’s not just the colorful leaves I miss. I also miss the ugly, crispy, dead leaves that crunch under my shoes as I traipse down sidewalks. I long for feeling the pleasure of artificial heat hit my cold cheeks when I come inside on a fall night. I want an excuse to drink caramel apple cider every day because it’s comforting in the cold – instead of just feeling I consumed tons of calories for no apparent reason.

When the weather is crisp, you can never have too many caramel apple ciders.

I miss how happy everyone gets in the fall. The landscape is colorful and gorgeous, and everyone is trying to enjoy every last drop of a coat-less existence before the weather drops, the leaves all die, and everything becomes covered in white frost.

I love San Diego – I truly love it and most of the time the thought of moving makes me feel dreadful. After 9 years, San Diego feels like home, and all my nearest and dearest know I have converted myself from my Midwest roots into a die-hard San Diegan.

Yet every Fall without fail this happens.

And it’s September again. So now I feel the desire to move. This feeling generally lasts until November, when I usually start seeing the painful sounding 10 degree weather reports start to pop up on friend’s Facebook feeds. Tom and I also usually do our annual trip to Julian, California for apple pie and cider. The leaves aren’t pretty there, but at least it feels like fall so I get my Fall activity fix.

Fall + Apple Pies = Heaven

We even got caught in a surprise snowfall in Julian one year when we went.

Snow! I was quite excited. Luckily, I was prepared (more just hopeful for cool weather to wear my scarf and beanie in) clothes-wise. Saw lots of people in shorts wandering around Julian this day.

In December, I’m usually too busy getting ready for whatever holiday adventures I’m going on to notice that San Diego is decidedly un-Christmas like for someone who grew up in snowy Minnesota, and by the time January rolls around I can’t quite remember why I ever thought I wanted to leave San Diego to go somewhere with seasons. After all, if I want snow, it’s just a two hour drive to Big Bear. And I forget all about Fall until the following September, when my inner body clock just seems to know something is missing in my surroundings and aches for it.

Do you live in an area that is missing one of the four seasons? What do you miss most about it?

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