Your Most and Least Favorite Seasons

Title: Your Most and Least Favorite Seasons

[MUSIC]

Brian Lehrer: To end the show today, after, as usual, we've been through a lot of heavy stuff, we will ask you, what's your favorite season now that fall is really settling in? 212-433-WNYC. I know it's still been pretty warm these last few days. The change is supposed to start really coming on Tuesday night or Wednesday, but what's your favorite season? 212-433-9692, as we sneak that Earth, Wind & Fire September in here on the second to last day of the month. It's the first full week of fall, and according to a YouGov poll from this year, it's America's favorite season. Nearly 40% of respondents to that survey said fall. Second place, spring. Summer was third. Winter came in last.

To all you fall lovers out there, what's your favorite part of this season? How did you usher in the season this week, if you did in any special way? What are you most looking forward to that makes fall your favorite season? Is it the weather? Is it the holidays? Why do you love fall? 212-433-9692, or if you're in the camp of one of the other three seasons, weigh in as well. I have admitted here in the past my love for summer. I love the warmth. I love summer activities. I don't mind that much when the temperature goes into the 90s, even though I'd prefer it in the 80s. I mean, I don't like 98, but I don't mind 93 that much.

That's just me. I'll take it over slogging along in the 20s and 30s, and 40s for three months. So much of spring is a little disappointing. So much rain and it gets a little warm, and then it gets cold again. I get a little sad when summer turns to fall, but that's just me. Maybe it goes back to being a kid, right? Because school was out in the summer. I got to go to summer camp, which was always one of my favorite things in life. My favorite sport is baseball, which is mostly a summer thing. Yay to all you Yankee fans. Omg in the negative sense, to all you Mets fans, but that's just me.

There are so many celebrations that kick off the fall. Maybe summer is slipping in rankings because of rising temperatures from climate change. Maybe you prefer the way you dress in one season or another. You might run hot and prefer the much cooler temperatures of winter, or maybe you don't really like wearing itchy layers, and summer is the perfect season for your sartorial choices. That's one of my little things, too. I love running around in shorts when I can and not have to layer up. What season does your body feel the most comfortable and do you get the best sleep, and do you like the activities the most?

Just call up and weigh in. Tell us your favorite season. I'm going to start this with a text. This is so funny. "Fall clothes are great because you've got more pockets." Gully in Brooklyn is a fall person. Hi, Gully. You're on WNYC.

Gully: Hi there. Actually, I'm not a fall person.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, I'm sorry.

Gully: I'm much more of a winter person.

Brian Lehrer: Okay.

Gully: I've always loved what everyone else calls "the worst weather." My heart lifts when it starts to rain, and better of all is the drama of storms, snow, huge winds. I just adore it. I think maybe the reason why I don't like the other seasons so much is that I grew up in London, and we all know the weather in London. When I moved here in 1980, I was horrified by the sun shining all the time. It just drove me mad, and it still does. What I wonder is, does anyone on earth agree with me? Because I don't have a single friend who does.

Brian Lehrer: Do you make any distinction between loving the storms when you can sit in your home and look out the window versus having to go out and deal?

Gully: Oh, of course, I do. I have to be at home for this weather.

Brian Lehrer: Gully, thank you very much for starting us off. Here's a fall person. Jason in Nyack, you're on WNYC. Hi, Jason.

Jason: Hi, Brian. First off, thanks for doing all that you do. I am a summer camp director, and so professionally, I have to say that summer is my favorite season, but personally, I would say fall is my favorite season. It's when we get to, in my profession, take a little breather, but the weather's still great. It's still great sailing weather. It's phenomenal hiking, probably the best hiking of the year is in fall. Yet, it's still rather temperate where you could wear shorts.

Brian Lehrer: Jason, thank you very much. Listener writes, "My favorite season is Indian summer now. Like many, my sweet youngest child was born five weeks early on the 21st of September and thinks that this is his song. Ha. That we were playing. Juanita in SoHo, you're on WNYC. Hi, Juanita. Juanita, listen to the phone, not to the radio. You're here? We're going to come back. We're going to come back to Juanita. Let's see, do we have any spring? Leila in Miami, maybe because it's Miami, loves spring the most. Hi, Leila, you're on WNYC.

Leila: Hi, Brian. I love you. You got me through the first administration, now this nightmare, and COVID. You're my hero. I love spring because the temperatures here stay in the 70s, and it's not raining, and you're not waiting for a hurricane, and your hair is doing great, and you get to wear a little more clothing than you usually do. It's just fantastic.

Brian Lehrer: Spring in Miami. Yes, you're the first person to reference the hair factor. Now I think we have Juanita in SoHo. Hi, Juanita.

Juanita: Hi. I'm a winter person. I love the winter. I'm a person that takes cold showers, or when I go to schvitz, I go to cold water after I come out of the [unintelligible 00:06:19], but I love winter because you're in a different mode. Your thinking is different. Emotionally, you're different. Different psychology. You're more in the contractual mode, as opposed to the spring and the summer when you're in expansive mode, you're more out and about. In the wintertime, you pull in. It's a time for reflection, making changes, and I just love it.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the experience of a good winter in New York for a while. When I first came here, there was snow and blizzards. Now, the winter is almost like fall to me.

Brian Lehrer: That's such an interesting philosophical take. One of the things that I love about summer is the expansiveness. You say you like the contractedness of winter because it makes you deeper, more thoughtful, more introspective. That's such a thoughtful take. Thank you for sharing it. Carrie in South Salem, another spring person. Hi, Carrie, you're on WNYC.

Carrie: Hi. Thanks so much for taking my call. My husband wants me to say, "Longtime listener, first-time caller."

Brian Lehrer: I see.

Carrie: I think that spring, if the seasons were like the days of the week, spring is like Friday, where you've got all this possibility ahead of you. Summer is on the way, and it just feels wonderful. Fall can be like the Sunday scaries, where you're just heading into darkness.

Brian Lehrer: The Sunday scaries gets to be the last reference in our call-in about your favorite season. Thank you, Carrie. Thank you, everybody. That's The Brian Lehrer Show for today, produced by Mary Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen produces our Daily Politics Podcast. We had Juliana Fonda and Milton Ruiz at the audio controls. Stay tuned for All Of It.

[MUSIC]

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.

Produced by WNYC