Pumpkin season is upon us: why we seem to be embracing fall earlier every year

Part of that is nostalgia. Part of that is the heat that the season brings. But it could also simply be the events of the past 18 months that are making many of us feel ready for fall early.

With autumn comes nostalgia

Part of the joyous anticipation of fall is just that: anticipation. When our mouths salivate as we imagine warm mugs of apple cider and pumpkin bread, it’s the anticipation that gets us excited, rather than the actual reward, says a psychologist.

“So come August. We feel like fall is just around the corner. We anticipate all the good things to come,” said Richard Lopez, a psychology professor at Bard College.

There are powerful cues that play into the nostalgia around fall—possibly even more so than other seasons. There’s a sniff in the air, the leaves are different colors, kids and their oversized backpacks are flying to school — all of these signs are triggers that often remind us of our younger selves, Lopez said.

Think holidays like Halloween, and the childish joy it brings, with its costumes and bright orange-coated chocolate. Or even specials like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” These are things that bring a lot of us back to an earlier, simpler time.

Those layers of positive memories and nostalgia, coupled with the anticipation of what’s to come, all play into the excitement many feel about fall, Lopez said.

“It’s this change of season; there are a lot of things to look forward to. We had the same experiences when we were young,” he said. “Other times of the year there isn’t that effect with that nostalgia or that anticipation.”

Tom Hanks’ character in the 1998 movie “You’ve Got Mail” sums it up perfectly: “Don’t you like New York in the fall?” he asks. “I’m excited to buy school supplies.”

Autumn can bring comfort in tumultuous times

But when we think of fall, it’s not just nostalgia at play. There is a cozy aspect too, visions of s’mores and cozy hay rides. Even in beloved pumpkin candies, it’s not the pumpkin flavor most people love, it’s the warming spices of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.

People naturally want security and order, Lopez said. Recent events, amplified by social media and near-instant access to news, have denied that.

“It’s just a lot to process,” he said. “All of these things were true before, but we didn’t have events like this on this scale to force us to think about it.”

This could make this upcoming fall a little more difficult, Lopez said.

“We want that sense of security and coziness, but … in previous years, pre-Covid, we’d have an active spring and an active summer, and then we’d like to go home and make it cozy,” he said. . “But home is a strange place now because we’ve spent so much time here.”

It means that the associations we have with home, safety, coziness, comfort — maybe even autumn — are changing.

That doesn’t mean fall won’t be as cozy as it has been in the past, or that those first few sips of sweet pumpkin coffee won’t hit. It just means that many Americans are different now than they were before March 2020. It’s okay if fall feels different too.