For the past week or so there has only been one thing on my mind – it’s finally autumn! Now that October is finally here, everybody can finally get into the autumn state of mind.
I’ve been seeing autumn decorations and festive Halloween costumes and accessories for months now, but because of the sweltering, hot, two-months-too-late summer temperatures, it hadn’t really gotten me that excited.
Any sane person who enjoys not sweating through their clothes five minutes after they walk out the door can agree that summer weather is awful and autumn’s cool temperatures bring the best weather of the entire year.
Erie’s weather can be pretty unpredictable, but lately it has been gorgeous outside.
Aside from the few thunderstorms, torrential downpours and January-like temperatures that Erie is so famous for, autumn has been treating Erie nicely so far.
Autumn is hands down one of my absolute favorite times of the year.
You can actually wear clothing without dying of heat stroke, you get to see all of the trees’ leaves change into beautiful autumn colors, Halloween – which is arguably the best holiday ever – marks the peak of the season and last (but definitely not least) my birthday.
My birthday is on Oct. 30, the day before Halloween. Growing up, I often had Halloween-themed parties – costumes, Halloween-themed decorations, pumpkins and candy – lots and lots of candy.
My birthday was always one of the indicating factors to me when I was growing up that autumn was finally in full swing.
I had never really lived anywhere where you actually got autumn weather – it was always either pure summer all the time (Mississippi, South Carolina) or just freezing after August (Alaska).
Now that I live somewhere where the leaves actually change color before falling off and the temperatures actually drop below 60 degrees, I can appreciate autumn more than I used to.
One of my favorite things to do during the autumn months is go to Port Farms in Waterford.
Most of the things to do there are geared toward children, but it also has some stuff for adults to do, too.
It has a really cool, autumn-themed spin-off of the classic summertime sandbox. It’s a giant box that is similar to a sandbox, but instead of sand, it is filled with dried corn kernels.
It also has a huge corn maze that is super creepy in the evening and extremely easy to get lost in. Last year, my sister and I went into the maze around dusk and somehow got separated along the way.
We ended up finding each other by scaring each other half to death in a scene that probably should have come out of an episode of “Scooby-Doo.”
I’m actually heading out to Port Farms this weekend with my family to pick out carving pumpkins, something we do every year.
I like pumpkins and all, but mostly I just really want to pet all the cute baby goats in the petting zoo.
SAMANTHA GRISWOLD
