A DAY IN THE LIFE: FALL -- YOU CAN KEEP IT

The English author George Moore once described something as being as "pathetic as an autumn leaf." When I first read that, I didn't understand what he meant.

Autumn is probably the most visually dazzling time of the year, and the autumn leaves that sit on the trees can be described by any number of words excluding the word pathetic.

But then I thought about it -- all that talk about how beautiful it gets outside and how great fall is.

Fall is supposed to be the romantic season. And it is easy to envision people walking in the park holding hands with the leaves all around them, and possibly a cute dog. (Couples love cute dogs.)

And fall invariably conjures up images of colors, harvest, pumpkins and pumpkin pie. They say it's great.

But is it? Is it really?

I don't think so; I've decided Fall isn't so great.

I know how cynical and pessimistic that sounds, but I've thought about it and fall possibly might be the worst season of all.

I thought about how I feel when the winds begin to blow a little colder and the days shrink to about four hours of daylight.

As a typical American with the attention span of a three-year-old on four espressos, I never notice how pretty the leaves are on the ground in all their magnificent glory. All that means is we have to get outside and spend several hours a week raking up all that glory.

And I've never noticed feeling any more romantic in the fall than any other time of the year. In fact I'm less likely to feel romantic. It's too damn cold, leave me alone.

And my mood becomes more negative in the fall, too, I don't know why. I become more quiet and I reflect more, which inevitably means more regrets for mistakes I can't undo.

And I laugh less when it's colder outside, things just don't seem as funny. I'm afraid to smile for fear of chapping my lips.

It's harder to get out of bed in the morning, too, and it's easier to crawl in to the warmth of the covers which means I accomplish less during fall.

The fall just means Old Man Winter is on his way and that's just more cold, ice, snow and dismally short days of having to sit inside and do nothing.

And, while I know that the holidays are meant to be a time of family and good cheer, autumn just means it's time to spend practically a fortune on gifts just so I can get a wool sweater or a couple pairs of socks.

Somehow, it just doesn't seem worth it. Or in other words, bah, humbug!