For lack of a better word, I'm sad. Just sad.

Maybe it's the fact that my job has had me out in the sun for the majority of the summer; maybe it's the fact that this summer has been one of the hottest on record; maybe it's the fact that I live in New England and hate these conditions I'm being forced to live in. I'm just so beyond done with summer, and I can't wait for my sweater-weather to come back from the depths of my closet.

It's like what everyone says: the grass is always greener on the other side. We always want what we can't have, and when we have what we wanted, we miss what we had. Life is a bit cruel that way, but it has never been crueler than bombarding us with 90-degree heat and high humidity. As a strong advocate for reasonable weather, I'd love to say that I can almost hear the crackling of autumn leaves and smell the pumpkins, but that wouldn't be entirely true. All I can hear is the distant sound of an exhausted dog barking and all I can see is the dust being kicked up by that one neighbor who insists on mowing his lawn every week even though it clearly needs a couple weeks just to recuperate from almost drought-like conditions.

In other words, the grass on the other side is dead. Just dead. Like I am. Inside.

Why do we always do this? In the summer, we crave the chill of winter. In the winter, all we can think of is the warm sun hiding behind that thick cloud layer. I could always pull out some scientific mumbo-jumbo like how the human body needs to maintain a relatively constant body temperature, so whenever we are exposed to either extreme, our brain tortures itself until it is given a constant homeostasis. And all of that is true, however, we'd be fools to think that the only reason we want winter during the summer is due to the general temperature (we have air conditioners, for crying out loud). People who say their favorite season is summer are still living in an elementary school mindset, and they may make the argument for the warmth of the sun and swimming weather, but consider this: summer is expensive, riddled with unstructured weeks that bleed into months, and a solitary holiday that really isn't that great to begin with.

It's not just about the heat and aesthetics, to be perfectly honest. The public's mindset during the summer season is just incredibly twisted! For students, it's a break, but for college kids, the grind never stops as we are forced to pick up temporary positions as waitresses and caddies. Even while there are far more people working during the summer, everywhere is half-staffed since everyone is on vacation to some remote island.

Summer is just godawful.

I know there are quite a few fans of those blazing months, but there are far more reasons to give fall and winter more love than their seasonal counterparts. Objectively, fall and winter are the most aesthetically pleasing parts of the New England year: the world around us slowly catches fire in beautiful shades only to die down to a brown ember, leaving behind skeleton hands that reach out from the underbrush. Then, to make it even more wonderful, a fluffy frozen coat settles over the world, leaving only silence in its wake and wonder on our cheeks. The whole season-process is beautiful, and do you know what season brings little to no change other than a smothering cloud of yellow pollen? Summer. Stupid summer. I'll pass on those stifling allergies and take my massive leaf piles, thanks.

Oh, and don't even get me started on the holidays embedded in those seasons! Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's -- I'm sure I'm missing a few, but that just goes to show that this time of year is chock-full of merriment and celebration, which makes it far more worthy of the title of "best seasons" than those with nothing to call home about. With these seasons inching ever closer, we're promised with family and friend bonding time, an incredible amount of fun, and overall happiness in concentrated parts of the year that we look forward to every year.

With all this being said, I am curious about what the other side thinks. Why is summer the superior season? Why does it somehow hold the crown in your eyes? Who hurt you??

Just come to the dark side and drink something pumpkin flavored -- you won't regret it.