Fall: the BEST counterclockwise season

Because Fall is my favorite season,, and because I feel I must make a case for it given the whole but everything is dying and the weather is turning crappy and vacation time is over litany I hear from autumn-detractors…I hereby declare that Fall is absolutely the very best counterclockwise season.*My reasons are simple and, if I do say so myself, compelling.1. Soup. Fall is the season of soup. In fact, I just made my first soup of the season yesterday: mushroom barley from the very first Moosewood cookbook. (Secret ingredient: tamari) I also adore a later Moosewood recipe for black bean soup. (Secret ingredient: dried apricots) If you make soup yourself, you get the pleasure of the cooking – contemplative, anti-stress, much chopping of veggies and fragrant sautéing of onions and garlic -- plus the pleasure of the eating. Not to mention the deep pleasure knowing that you are nourishing both body and soul because, "Chicken Soup for the Soul" notwithstanding, there is an alchemy to soup. It is magic elixir in a bowl.Also…It’s difficult (and dangerous!) to consume hot soup quickly. This is a real benefit. Eating slowly not only increases enjoyment and creates a greater window for kitchen-table interaction, it allows the sensors in your stomach to communicate to the brain that you are getting full. All good news for the counterclockwise lifestyle.2. Flannel sheets. Fall is the season of flannel sheets, whisper soft against the skin, warmed immediately by the body, deeply, satisfyingly sensuous. (I just changed my sheets yesterday – while waiting for the onions, garlic and mushrooms to sauté, in fact.) Flannel sheets on an autumn-cool night: the best. I take that back. Flannel sheets on an autumn-cool night with the rain shushing and hissing outside...that’s the best.What does this have to do with an invigorated, weller-than-well counterclockwise lifestyle? Good, restful, deep sleep, that’s what. Significant research links good sleep with health in general, with disease prevention, resilience, weight control and other hallmarks of anti-aging.So stop mourning the end of summer with all that skin-aging, cataract-causing sunshine! Embrace the fall.*Alas, only for us northern hemisphere folks who live in places with four seasons