Never mind the falling leaves, the cooler weather, or that Lauren said to me three weeks ago as we entered the front patio “it’s time for the mums and pumpkins! I’d better place my order!” – my coffee’s the one who tells me it’s fall.
It’s normally a popular time of year – when the cool weather brings out my Smartwool socks and hooded sweatshirts. But this time everyone I talked too said that fall felt premature. That summer never came and autumn should wait its turn. Every friends’ Facebook status moaned about the crispness in the air. Every blog I read had a bit of sourness in tone to the turning leaves.
And I agreed with them. It was too soon. Too hot on the heels of summer. Too, well, OCTOBER in September. (How dare it!) So I kept my sweatshirt packed, my socks in the drawer and my windows wide-open (freezing with the heat still off.) I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t ready for my favorite season. Why couldn’t I just let summer go?
It’s because Starbucks didn’t tell me it was time for the change. Happy is a Friday at the end of a stressful week, but happier was it last week when I entered Starbucks to find the chalkboard exclaiming that “Pumpkin Spice Lattes Are Back”! A big smile came to my face as I placed my order for my first venti of the season. I realized this year that it’s my favorite coffee brand, not the calendar on the wall, that has told me since 2004 when it’s fall.
My marketing-self is inspired by the power of the ‘Bucks – to usurp Father Time and Mother Nature is a big deal. And when I walk in next to see the red cups, the gingerbread lattes and the illustrated snowy gift cards I so covet, I’ll know it’s winter. And that’s just fine by me.
