Top Ten Reasons Fall Is Good

10. The leaves change color, fall from the trees, and drift into heaps that you can lose a child in. For a minute, anyway.

9. The melancholy pleasure of a rainy day, the sweet earthy smell of moldering leaves, and the subdued, gaslight quality of a sun that rises late and sets early.

8. The perfection of a blue-sky, sunny day when the high temperature is around 65° F, give or take 5 degrees, when a sweater or windbreaker gives just enough warmth but not too much.

7. The happy necessity of a daily cup of rich, dark, hot chocolate.

6. The sudden prevalence of pumpkins set out as decorations and baked into pies and other desserts. (Roasted pumpkin seeds are also a nice fall treat, by the way.)

5. The nighttime luxury of snuggling down under a heavy quilt or comforter, without fear of overheating.

4. Your favorite cat's tendency to snuggle down with you, in an especially well-behaved way, all night long.

3. The clarity that the air has when it is neither too damp nor too dry, too hot nor too cold.

2. The brief, exquisitely peaceful pause between the rumble of air conditioning and the rattle and clank of central heating.

1. The realization that, just for once, the climate is even nicer outside than inside...