Fall has always been my favorite season and favorite time of year. I don’t know if that’s because I’m a redhead, and all the brilliant colors seem to blend together to perfectly match me. Or maybe because my birthday is in November, and fall has some of the best holidays anyway. Plus, it’s a precursor to Christmas. Maybe I love fall so much because of the clothing; there are few things I love more than wearing a flawlessly put together fall outfit, with a long cardigan, boots and a scarf. I certainly can’t forget about the food either. The pumpkin pies, hot chocolate and Thanksgiving turkeys never fail to make my mouth water. But no matter the reasons, I’ve always been drawn to the autumn season, so much so that none of the other seasons seem to come close, except for winter. Winter is a close second.

But this year, I’m really enjoying spring. That could be because we often don’t get spring here, and it feels like winter usually just melts into summer, with nothing in between. Right now, though, we’re in the midst of spring, and I couldn’t be happier, not even if it was November and I was in all my redhaired, fall glory. 

Is there any sweeter smell than walking outside after a spring rain shower? (They should really make a candle for that.) What about a prettier sight than Easter flowers in bloom? Or a better feeling than the sun shining on your face and happily realizing it won’t set for hours to come? 

I’m sure there are better things than all of those, but I really don’t think I’ve ever taken the time to appreciate spring before like I am this year. Just being outside the past few days has left me feeling invigorated and full of energy. As I mentioned, I normally love winter, but this year we had more wind and rain than snow, and it seemed like most of the coldest days we had were sunny, which felt like a merciless tease. In the past few weeks though, we’ve had beautiful and warm, but not hot, sunshine and cloudless blue skies. 

It’s hard for me to think about seasonal depression and if the ‘winter blues’ could really affect me, because there are so many things I love about winter. As long as I’ve been in college, however, I’ve also discovered the things I don’t love. The harsh wind blowing through my winter coat on the way to class is probably one of the most important reasons I’ve slightly changed my mind about winter. Not being able to go outside for long periods of time without freezing puts a damper on my mood as well, especially when I’m constantly longing for some adventure. 

College is all about growing up, and I don’t know if developing a deeper appreciation for all the seasons is part of that process, but it’s definitely true for me. I’m really looking forward to enjoying the rest of spring and the beauty it has to offer, even if that just means visiting local parks and trying to capture all the lovely spring moments on my camera. That sounds like enough of an adventure to me. 

Now if only I could learn to love summer the way I’m loving spring… But we’ll save that for another day. 

Amanda Larch can be contacted at [email protected].