Sweet, with slight spicy undertones, the apple scent fills our homes with the warm yet fresh feeling of crisp autumn days. The fragrance of apple acts as a perfect transition from the bright and fruity smells of summer, to the opposing dark and musky smells of winter. Apple fragrances create an aroma of the bright fruit being warmed to cider. Just barely sprinkled with fall spice, the perfume’s more powerful essence of honey creates a smooth fragrance that refreshes the senses. Apple candles create a fresh feeling in a season of overpowering smells. The subtle mixture avoids bringing the dreaded, migraine-causing, buttery scents often associated with my favorite season. Instead, the honey crisp scent leaves the senses with a smooth and warm impression that can only remind one of the best parts of fall.

Blended notes of pumpkin, whipped cream, ginger snap spices and, most essentially, cinnamon combine to create the most known smell of fall. One random day, as the leaves begin to turn, my mother sparks a lighter and fills every corner of our home with the heavy aroma of creamy cinnamon and pumpkin. The scent of pumpkin, while commonly quite powerful, enlists a feeling of warm calm in my mind. The pumpkin scents are so complexly layered that it is truly hard to track down the root of this feeling. Is it the brown sugar base, the hit of spices or the honestly artificial smell we call pumpkin? All of it mixes together to create a fragrance that is such a key part of the season that it is hard to resist. It has become a hard to ignore, innate reflex, to pick up any cutely labeled, orange candle and breath in the cozy and familiar scent.

The simple plucking of an apple from a tree feels like an overarching symbol for fall. Apple farms often fall through the cracks of the season, but the calm country feel is a calming contrast to many overcrowded fall activities. Anyone who takes the time to harvest, juice or just eat apples during this time of the year are never disappointed. It is also an activity that is available during the whole season and has a variety of apple-based activities. Ranging from simple apple picking to the slinging of apples at a target, apple farms are family friendly. However, the set up of an apple farm prevents the creation of an overrun playground. An apple farm is about the simple pleasures of fall. The familiar flavors of apples, baked and covered in sugar. They are a place calm in a hauntingly chaotic season.

Even after the state fair closes every season, there are still plenty of places to find rides, games and entertainment. Just as the leaves start to turn, hundreds of pumpkin patches appear across the nation. These little farms are an age-old tradition that is enjoyed by thousands as a key outing during the season. However, it is harder to enjoy when surrounded by screaming seven-year-olds and tired mothers. Pumpkin patches have become painfully more than pumpkin patches filled to the brim with stupid games and “family fun”. While the “vibes” of pumpkin picking can not be truly reflected in a pumpkin patch, it is the idea of finding that perfectly plump, orange squash that leads us back each year. A pointless and overpriced ritual that is worth every penny.

When it comes down to it, there is no world in which any other fall dessert will even come close to that of the apple crisp. The thought alone of the perfect dessert brings about the truest feelings of fall. The warm and gooey filling contrasts with the crisp and spiced topping to resemble the feeling of a warm fire on a chilly day. When served with a perfect scoop of vanilla ice cream, the feeling of cold and warmth combine together in a world of pure bliss. While winds and cold rains commence outside, the warm, slightly spiced smell flowing with the steam from the oven, the joy on the faces of your loved ones, it warms the cold feeling the season can leave us with. Those who oppose the apple flavor are rarely referencing this feeling of sheer nostalgia, but instead harping on the sad attempts to recreate these feelings in your morning macchiato. When one focuses on the sensation of a warm, gooey, spicy and sweet, apple crisp, nothing else can compare.

Every Thanksgiving table across America is adorned with one, often dreaded, dessert: pumpkin pie. There is really nothing wrong with pumpkin pie. It is commonly adorned with a nice helping of whipped cream and paired with a crumbly crust, but that’s what helps it. The focus in this discussion is the pumpkin. That filling that is disliked by many, is a still sweetened version of the actual flavor of pumpkin. So, as pumpkin spice lattes take over, the second Starbucks frees it, we must remember that the PSL is an inaccurate representation of pumpkin. The creamy, spicy, sweet essence of a perfect PSL, is not pumpkin at all. It is simply sugar and spices, that maybe someone held a pumpkin near. So lies the problem with the pumpkin flavor. In reality, we just have too high of expectations. Too often we associate pumpkin with that flawless sweetness instead of seeing it as it is, a squash. A great soup. But in pie, in coffee, it isn’t real.