Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns.

George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans) wrote that in a letter to a friend in 1841 — and I could not agree more.

Fall is the best season, my favorite season. Yours too? Of course it is. Here are my top five reasons:

  1. Soup. Yes, let’s begin with soup. Lentil soup. Black bean soup. Potato leek soup. Butternut squash and apple (see No. 2) soup. Soupsoupsoup. A quiet and contemplative pleasure to make. A deeply satisfying (body and soul) meal to consume. Soup forces you to slow down, breathe, savor, enjoy. If, like me, you have grown some of your own ingredients, then soup is the culmination of all those backyard farm efforts.
  2. Apples. Are there other fruits more exotic? Uh-huh. Are almost-too-ripe summer peaches picked from the tree as close to heaven as one can get? Yep. But apples are the glory of fall harvests. I’ve got Fuji, Braeburn, Gala and Red Delicious trees in my orchard, and this year ALL have gone bananas (sorry, could not resist that). Apple sauce, apple butter, dried apples. Apples. Get it? Did you know that apples are grown in all 50 states, meaning you have a better chance of eating local with an apple than with just about any other fruit?
  3. Sleep. Sleep is good, and we don’t get enough of it. With the equinox comes shorter days, longer nights, and more lovely darkness to take advantage of. Cooler nights (open those windows!) mean better sleep “hygiene.” Also the beginning of flannel sheet weather. Need I say more? Wait, I will say more. Here in the Pacific Northwest, fall means rain. Which means falling asleep to the soft hiss of rain, the sound people actually download to listen to because it is known to enhance relaxation.
  4. Cooler weather. Not just great for improved sleep, cooler weather is perfect for long walks, hikes, bike rides, runs. You know, getting out and (joyfully) moving your body. If you were stuck indoors during summer heat waves and air inversions, forest fire-polluted skies, now is the time to go back outside. It’s not just the physical movement. It is the connection to the natural world.
  5. Glorious colors. Scarlet and magenta, gold and bronze, russet, flame, apricot. Oh I could go on. But you get it. Fall colors are magnificent, a treat for the eye and food for the soul. It’s hard not to feel grateful just to be alive in the presence of such beauty.

The leaves are all falling, and they’re falling like they’re falling in love with the ground.
— Andrea Gibson

So happy equinox, everyone. Take a walk while munching an apple. Make soup and savor it. Sleep well.

P.S.: Just so you know: I hate pumpkin-spiced lattes.

Lauren Kessler is a multi-award-winning author of 15 books including narrative journalism, immersion reportage, memoir, and biography. She has written about the gritty world of prisons, the grueling world of ballet, and the surprisingly vibrant world of those with Alzheimer's. Her latest book, "Everything Changes Everything" explores love, loss, wounds, and healing. She has lived in Eugene long enough to remember when Prince Puckler's was Gantsys. She taught narrative journalism at UO way before we had a winning football team.