what is "the best time of year"

not sure where this belongs
but here it goes
what is the best time of year, have you ever given this any thought?
I guess some would say, the spring, when everything comes alive again, and gardens are prepared, seeds planted and all starts growing with vim and vigor
and, others might say. the fall, when all the crops come in and the harvest is in full tilt and stores are put up for the winter.

doesn't anyone have a favorite time of year?
maybe its the winter when everything is frozen and the snow falls and the only sounds are the cracking of the fire that keeps you warm and the occasional caw from a crow off in the distance talking to friends and family..

I enjoy every day I get to spend outside! The summer is always busy so I feel like I miss a lot. The winter is slower so I get to spend more time on the farm. Spring and fall are good too! I guess if I had to call a favorite time of year here, it would have to be our Indian Summer. The veggies are still growing, the days are warm, the nights cold. The pigs have turned into hogs and are extremely fat and happy under the trees that have dumped most of their mast. Yes sir, those are the best days...

I love the fall.  I like the weather better than the extremes of summer or winter, the leaves are changing and are beautiful colors here.  I love the look of the trees when the leaves fall before winter hits.  I like the other seasons as well, but if it were fall all year 'round, I would be good with that.

I feel I love spring the most because of all the pretty wildflowers.

Second, I love all the colors the trees turn in the fall. When we lived in the "Piney Woods" area of Texas that might have been my favorite time of year.  Where I live now, it is mostly juniper and liveoak so there is not much color in the fall.

i like it all, i can’t choose.

the springtime magic of buds and flowers popping and little fruitlets following; the all-in growth exuberance of summer, with long days and warm nights; the colors and harvests and full woodsheds of fall; and winter’s planning and hibernation (and, here in the southern highlands, nice manual labor weather where you don’t immediately start losing pounds of sweat).

yeah, feeling pretty impartial.

Our weather here is monotonous.  The front moves in and stays for months.  

So for me, the best time of year is the next season. I'm always looking forward to when the weather changes.

For example, today is the first serious rain of the fall (a month early too!).  It's actually the first serious rain of the year.  It's been so bright and dry.  I was so looking forward to putting on my shoes that don't leak too much and doing my chores in the downpour.

And now it's here, it's well past sunrise and it's no brighter outside than it was 4 hours before sunrise.  I remember, oh yah.  It's going to be like this for most of the next 6 months.  I miss the sun already.  

Ha, that's funny to me as I have a family member who is always asking "what's you favorite" this or that and as a rule don't have a favorite much of anything, including time of year.

That said, I do love the first warm breeze of spring and the little yellow flowers that bloom in the snow. I like a hot summer afternoon with the sound of bees and flies going about their business. I like the first chilled breeze of fall, listening to the leaves hit the ground and the smell they have when it rains. I like a predawn morning with moonlit snow and cold enough the freeze the fog from the air.

I could on and on about each but I can't settle on the one that's best.

I confess to being a summer person. Warm mornings for cycling, and fast-growing gardens!

bruce Fine wrote:doesn't anyone have a favorite time of year?.

When living in western Oregon, I found summers the best.  Warm to hot with the ability to escape to the Cascades or beaches when too warm.  But most of my life has been spent in the northern Midwest/Plains states.  Winters have their moments but are too taxing, Springs are wet, cold, and windy, Summers are hot, humid, and buggy ..... and getting worse each year. But Fall continues to be far and away the best season to me in this larger regions.  Cool, crisp mornings, dry air, bugs decline to near zero, the sounds of the waterfowl migrations in the air, being able to crank up some baking without overheating the house,....

.... and the kayaking on lakes with the color-splash of autumn along the shoreline is just sublime!

....(wistful sigh...)  where's my paddle!?

I’ve always been a fall guy. Especially now that fires make summer smoky and precarious in the west. I am looking forward to the predicted upcoming rain storm (2-4” in my area), which will trigger soil and foliage (which is correlated with soil life activity) changes, clear the air, and make it so I no longer have to water hundreds of newly planted trees!

John Weiland wrote:

bruce Fine wrote:doesn't anyone have a favorite time of year?.

When living in western Oregon, I found summers the best.  Warm to hot with the ability to escape to the Cascades or beaches when too warm.  But most of my life has been spent in the northern Midwest/Plains states.  Winters have their moments but are too taxing, Springs are wet, cold, and windy, Summers are hot, humid, and buggy ..... and getting worse each year. But Fall continues to be far and away the best season to me in this larger regions.  Cool, crisp mornings, dry air, bugs decline to near zero, the sounds of the waterfowl migrations in the air, being able to crank up some baking without overheating the house,....

.... and the kayaking on lakes with the color-splash of autumn along the shoreline is just sublime!

....(wistful sigh...)  where's my paddle!?

You summed it up better than I did.  Location makes such an enormous difference in the season I like best.  Fall in Wisconsin is hard to beat.  If only it were more than 10 minutes long...

Late October, the first frost, full autumn colours, the smell of a log fire after a long hike . . . Quickly followed by my least favourite time of the year - November, wet, windy, grey . . .

Having lived 90 miles north of the equator for six years, I really appreciate every time of the year. Seasons are awesome.

Our four seasons are very distinct -- you can literally smell the difference when they change.

Summers are too hot and buggy, and too humid these last ten years. Winter is too forever.

Spring and fall for me.

Fall ....beyond any doubt.  Fall, for me, begins now and extends to Christmas.  The humidity is dropping and I can spend more time outdoors.

John F Dean wrote:Fall, for me, begins now and extends to Christmas.

Colour me green with envy. We're coming up to frost pretty soon. Sometimes we get snow on Halloween and it stays until April.

I like everything other than hot. Hot this year started in May and is just now finally getting better. I honestly feel so traumatized by the heat that I resent the sun. During summer, I'm a hermit only emerging early morning. House closed up tight as soon as the sun comes out, living in darkness.

I love to live somewhere now that we have snow. Just the right amount to my mind, enough to be fun, but not make life difficult.

But generally speaking, I think that I like spring and fall best.

I do not like to work in the cold & wet, so spring & summer, then fall is best for me. Winter is the best for harvesting animals because it is a low temperature & meat will not spoil as fast.
Even with a walk in cooler, winter is better, for meats & smoking & curing.
When you have a year around garden, you are harvesting all the time, but cold months, I just want to stay in the bed like a bear, it is good that I live where the cold is limited to100-150 days.
Half of that time is in the 40F to 60F degree & is chilly, but not freezing temperature. Stop laughing at me, I know many of you have 250 day under 60F at night, I know I have it better in the winter, but you have better summers & fall then I do.

Fall, hands down! Warm days, cool nights...

Spring too changeable ; wet then hot, then cold...

Summer, love the longer daylight hours BUT hate heat! Anything over 25C or 75F is TOO much for me. Plus, BUGS, and you feel guilty not being outside busy.

Winter on the wet coast is storm front after storm front, but I'll take that over heat. At least you can dress for the weather or better yet, batten the hatches, stay warm inside and be cozy.

Fall is perfect, few to no bugs, reasonably long days, dress up or down depending on temp...simply the best!

Right before fall when the summer heat starts to cool off. I can stand in the sunshine and there's a gentle breeze blowing and a smell of all the things growing and ripening. It's the perfect weather to lay down on the ground and watch the clouds float by. If I happen to fall asleep there for an hour or two, I won't wake up with a sunburn or mosquito bites. Plus I get to start picking my tomatoes (they ripen slowly here) and the squash are starting to turn orange. My favorite thing is to go around collecting seeds from my herbs and flowers and think about who I can share them with.

2nd favorite is the spring, seeing all the things start to poke from the ground. 3rd favorite is summer and all the yummy things to eat straight from the garden without having to go inside and cook. 4th is winter when I can sit with my seed catalogues and paper plans and dream up all the wonderful things I want to do the test of the year and when I walk around outside and everything's dead but I can more easily see the bones of the land and discover things that were hidden by the greenery the rest of the year.

I do wonder if you asked this question in the spring if more people would say spring. Right now it's beautiful fall in a lot of locations. I might change my mind in the middle of beautiful spring.

I love spring and fall.  Both spring and fall are quite short.  Always feels like we go from winter and summer, and summer and winter.  So it makes those amazing spring and fall days more precious.  I love spending time in my yard, and it's wonderful to enjoy the sun and not be to hot, or cold.