It’s official – Autumn begins this week, Sept. 22, 2024. It’s a new beginning, a new season, and one full of possibilities. While the City Journal addressed the ‘Ber’ months in a previous issue, Autumn itself deserves some special attention. Unfortunately, the online community has labeled Autumn and those who enjoy this season as “basic” – something that is far too mainstream, and overhyped, but the following may just go to show why this season deserves all the love it gets.

For centuries, Autumn has marked a bracing for winter. Traditionally, Autumn has been the season of harvest, bringing in as much produce as possible before the first frost, and the first hard freeze threaten crops. Often, this harvest has also been part of larger celebrations, like Thanksgiving, in which the harvested bounty is shared with a community of friends and family, bringing warmth to home and hearth before the onset of winter.

As the years moved on, and the world became more connected, innovations in shipping and food preservation made the focus on harvest less of a necessity and more of a tradition. Sure, in the 20th century, many people could find canned goods or even fresh produce in the dead of winter, shipped from warmer climes, but the traditions of harvest foods endured, like corn, potatoes, both sweet and savory, and of course, pumpkin with all its associated products.

This leads to one of perhaps, the most divisive aspects of Western autumnal culture – pumpkin spice. Love it or hate it, pumpkin spice has become the unofficial flavor of the season. Everything from lattes to cookies, to shakes and more, but what actually is in pumpkin spice? Ironically enough, the seasoning itself does not include pumpkin, although many products will add that flavor in addition. Pumpkin spice is a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, with some mixtures including allspice. 

Oddly enough, similar mixtures have been found in cookbooks dating back to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but the official pumpkin spice, or pumpkin pie spice was codified in the 1890s. Pumpkin spice is a classic example of the old saying, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. The spice has worked and been a favorite ingredient for over 700 years, why mess with success?

Variety, as the saying goes, is the spice of life, and Autumn provides a fantastic change of pace from the dog days of summer. There’s plenty to see and do in general, as well as the many Autumn-specific events in Davis like the Scarecrow Walk, Frightmares at Lagoon, concerts, and more. There’s never a better time to have a great season than the present, and fall 2024 promises to be an outstanding one.