Editor’s note: With the official arrival of fall, we are sharing letters from our readers about their favorite things to do in autumn and their cherished seasonal memories.

Gorgeous time of year

Chicago has many weather personalities. We all complain about the winters — dreary and cold — we all know the drill. We wax poetic about Chicago summers: Summer in the city is fun and vibrant with the lakefront, beaches, Riverwalk and all the festivals. But summer can be brutally hot, and construction traffic is a nightmare. Spring is a crapshoot; often, we are stuck in “cold and rainy” well into May.

But fall! Fall in Chicago brings gorgeous, sunny, crisp days, not too hot and not too cold. We can break out our sweaters and our suede, enjoy the beautiful colors throughout our tree-lined parks and thoroughfares, and start another Bears season of never-ending hope. Fall is reliably beautiful every year.

Having a winter home in Florida has made me appreciate even more the changing of seasons. While I do not miss the winters, I do love to be in Chicago for the fall. Bring it on!

— Joanne Dahm, Lincolnshire

Fall a priceless jewel

Why do I like autumn, you ask? Where do I begin? For one thing, the air is much less humid than it is
in summer; it’s like a wet dishrag that’s been wrung dry.

What’s more, the landscape is becoming is so much more appealing. For starters, the leaves are already
beginning to turn and in time will reproduce all of the colors in a child’s crayon box.

Even more significantly, fall has a special vibe all its own. Spring, for instance, is impatient after its long sleep, while summer has an undeniable edge, caused no doubt by the endless heat and excessive perspiration. Lastly, winter is slow and deliberate and often as tedious as it is depressing, especially when the holidays have passed.

But fall is the priceless jewel in Mother Nature’s crown, even on days when it’s as unpredictable and petulant as a fussy child.

At its best, fall comes as close to perfection as anything we’ll ever experience this side of paradise.

— Bob Ory, Elgin

People take advantage of the warm weather at Swallow Cliff Woods forest preserve in Palos Township on Nov. 7, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Perfume of autumn

My childhood was in the  late 1930s and ’40s in Ravenswood Manor, then a quiet backwater of the city, a few blocks of wonderful Chicago bungalows. What a magical place to be a child.

We ran loose in the alleys, climbed fences, played hopscotch and hide-and-seek, and counted the star flags in windows of families of soldiers serving overseas. We walked to school with our newly sharpened pencils and textbooks carefully taped with handmade covers of brown paper. We helped rake up the fallen leaves of many colors, made piles of them by the curbs and then kept a respectful distance while they were set afire. The odor of the burning leaves was intoxicating. It lasted long after the pile was reduced to ash.

Even now, I can imagine that touchstone and wonderful perfume of autumn.

— Joanne Hoffman, Highland Park

Living and learning

If you were lucky enough to attend one of the great universities or colleges in Chicago, you might agree that fall is the best time in this city.

In the late 1970s, I enrolled at Mundelein College, an all-women’s Catholic college in Rogers Park. Run by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mundelein was a blueprint for the movie “The Trouble with Angels,” a 1966 comedy about the adventures of two girls in an all-girls Catholic school. (The college was incorporated into Loyola University in the 1990s.)

Although I lived with my family in Evanston, proximity held no sway on my desire to experience dorm life. Each fall, Mom would drive me to Rogers Park and help cart my gear up to Room 202 in Coffey Hall, where my roommate waited for our arrival. Our dorm literally hugged Lake Michigan, so when I glanced out the window, it felt as though I was floating on a barge.

My friends and I enjoyed many lakefront walks in the early days of the season. I’ll never forget the stunning scene of gold and orange leaves reflected on a rippling lake before the Madonna della Strada Chapel.

On fall weekends, the city was our personal playground. We would hop on the “L” and head to the Chicago International Film Festival or cheer on runners in the Chicago Marathon. One October day, while I had an exam, my roommates went downtown to see the Prince of Wales on his goodwill stop in Chicago.

Closer to school, we would head to our favorite haunt, Hamilton’s Bar, and reunite with the “Mundle Bundles” and our Loyola boys to enjoy a few cold ones with early-season Bears or the late-season Cubs flickering in the background. Later that night, we would be greeted by the now-world-famous Sister Jean, our “dorm mom” who would wait up to ensure all her girls were home safely.

In the morning, bleary-eyed, we would head to our American government class in the “Skyscraper.” A 14-story art deco landmark on Sheridan Road, the building’s entrance is framed by a pair of gigantic limestone archangels: Uriel, bearer of the book of wisdom, and Jophiel, guardian of the tree of knowledge. The stone ladies seemed to glare down at me after a long night at Hamilton’s. “Get back in here among your profs and books where you belong!”

So for me, fall will always bring back memories of academia and self-discovery. There’s nothing better than living and learning on Chicago’s lakefront.

— Mary Ann O’Rourke, Barrington

The first signs of fall foliage appear at Promontory Point after a morning rain on Sept. 26, 2023. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

The tastes and smells

Fall in Chicago brings back fond memories of trips to Lincoln Park, the smell of burning leaves, rye bread and butter or Braunschweiger sandwiches. Now just sitting in the backyard is heaven.

— Arlene Payne, Chicago

Very best season of all

I think my favorite holiday has to be Labor Day, as it’s soon followed by the fall season. Almost overnight, the heat and humidity seem to disappear, and everyone is left with a feeling of renewal after all the kids are back in school and our summer vacation is already just a fading memory.

The morning walks are now full of sounds that are unique to the season, like acorns and walnut shells crunching underfoot and the honking of migrating birds headed south. The forest is also coming alive with animals scurrying about collecting the goodies, perhaps in anticipation of an early winter.

The soft, dry air is such a relief from the moisture-laden oppression of summer. What’s more, the landscape is more colorful these days as leaves begin to turn and farm fields are strewn with bright orange pumpkins.

Although the days grow shorter, they’re filled with so many activities one hardly knows where to begin, including leaf collection, apple picking, nature hikes and simply enjoying a blazing campfire (with or without the retelling of traditional ghost stories).

For sure, it’s a great time to be alive, even if the celebration of Halloween is inspired by the nonliving. A toast seems in order to the very best season of all.

— Earl Lee, Elgin

People take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather as fall leaves change color along Navy Pier on Oct. 24, 2023, in Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Glorious fragrant haze

In my early 1960s childhood, like almost every family on our city street, we had an autumn weekend routine. Saturday mornings, we’d grocery-shop and break for lunch. Then with the dew burned off the lawn in the midafternoon, Dad and I would grab work gloves, rakes and bushel baskets and wade into the fallen leaves in front and back. We’d dump the collection in the gutter and put a match to it.

Times that by about 20 homeowners, and it made a glorious fragrant haze covering the whole block. I loved it anyhow, although I gather now from the internet that not everyone did.

Lawn services, leaf blowers and a city ban on burning would subsequently render such a tableau effectively obsolete. But they can’t outlaw recollections, and I’ve still got those.

In season, I’ve periodically toyed with the idea of piling a small batch of dead leaves and setting them alight, just to rekindle memories of the smell. I may yet get around to it.

— Tom Gregg, Niles

The smell has lingered

You can’t burn leaves like some people did when I was a kid, but the smell has lingered in memory all these years. That pungent smoky odor was captivating, just like the secondhand smoke from the Camel straights my father smoked until he finally admitted there was something to the surgeon general’s warning.

Today, those odors would likely be considered a nuisance and health hazards, such as the smoke from the forest fires wafting down from our neighbor up north. But for a time, I inhaled deeply and thought everything was just fine.

— Jerry Levy, Deerfield

Hannah Luczak and her dog, Nellie, stand in front of a tree with turning leaves at Humboldt Park on Oct. 15, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Time spent with Dad

One of my absolute favorite fall memories is walking through the fallen leaves with my father. The two of us would go to the forest preserves and trudge through them, making a distinctive sound. The smell and sounds were unique, and if we were lucky, we would find a water pump. I don’t remember if we drank from it.

That time spent with my dad was special.

— Carole Bogaard, Oak Lawn

Beauty of the leaves

Growing up in Elmwood Park during the 1950s, I have fond memories of the fall season. My brother Mickey and I had the job of raking all the leaves. We didn’t mind a bit. We would rake the leaves into a huge pile in the street next to the curb. Then we would light it with matches. We pretended it was a big bonfire! And the smell of the burning leaves was unforgettable. We had no concern for pollution back then. We probably wouldn’t have known what the word meant.

Yes, fall is a favorite season of mine. And the beautiful colored leaves bring back so many happy memories.

— Eugenie (Vercillo) Urick, Elmhurst

Foliage dries in the fall sun at Lurie Garden in Chicago on Nov. 9, 2020. (José M. Osorio/ Chicago Tribune)

As vivid as van Gogh

Why do I like fall? For me, the answer is as easy as a lengthy stroll on a warm, sunny afternoon in September or even October.

For one thing, the oppressive heat and humidity of summer are gone. And although the days are growing shorter, they’re becoming even more colorful than a Vincent van Gogh painting.

In the country, the cornstalks have turned brown, and the soybean fields are all aglow. Even the trees are slowly evolving, from green to various shades of red, yellow and amber.

What’s more, the pumpkins are coming of age, and soon the landscape will be dotted with bright orange spheres. Also, there is the splendor of crimson sunsets, harvest moons and frosted lawns in the early morn. So, what’s not to like about autumn?

The weekends are filled with football games, hiking, apple picking, bonfires and maybe an overnight trip that’s been recommended by the Tribune’s fall guide. Oh, did I also mention the recent availability of pumpkin lattes, cider doughnuts and caramel apples, as well as a bounty of other seasonal specialties?

Finally, the cool days and the even cooler nights make for an easy transition from autumn to early winter, but that’s a topic for another day.

— Tom Scorby, St. Charles

Ready for some football

To many people, the love of autumn can be summed up in three letters: NFL.

— Cary Riske, Grayslake

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/22/letters-092225-fall-favorite-things-memories/