It’s Falling… It’s Falling… Fall fell!

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Becky Dingle

Dear Reader:

Fall officially arrives tonight around 9:00. In the Lowcountry – summer has added one more ” heat” victory today…making fall wait another 24 hours – Fall Equinox or not. But by Friday night we will be in the 50’s and enjoy a very fall like feeling for our semi-tropical area this weekend ! Can’t wait! That will be the best present of all!

Do you happen to know the story behind the choice selection of calling the season ( between summer and winter) fall or autumn… well… now you will! Today we use the two terms pretty interchangeably… but the major difference deviates between American and British English. Autumn is considered the more formal name while fall occurs more in American English.

How did these two completely unalike words come to refer to the same season? We have to time travel back to the 1300’s -when the original word used before (” autumn”)was ” harvest.” However … using harvest to name a season was confusing since the term had been used for centuries to define the actual process of gathering crops- known as the ” harvesting” of them.

So by the time the seasonal term ” Autumn” appeared …farmers were relieved and Autumn was a big hit! BUT… the famous poets of the time loved the beauty and colorful changes so much- they started writing prose like ” the fall of the leaves.” Over time the phrase was shortened to just fall in the 1600’s.

Both words emigrated to America from England but by the middle of the 1800’s America’s Fall Season and England’s Autumn Season had diverged permanently…. though this time it has also been American poets preferring the more formal term Autumn.

Mary Oliver’s tribute to Autumn

I decided today’s post should be artistically visual -just for the beauty and happiness of the season.

Smoky Mountains

So until tomorrow… Autumn or Fall? It’s a personal call. Breathe in the air… cool breezes with flair. Colors galore… we cry out for more… Leaves fall away… we watch them in play… Memories made…gratitude repaid. Fall has it all. ( Jingle Dingle ☺️)

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

The last moonflower bloom of the season-it was so dark the flash went off but what a way to end the season-royal beautiful!

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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3 Responses to It’s Falling… It’s Falling… Fall fell!

  1. Rachel Edwards says:
    September 22, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    Regardless of the name…the arrival of cooler days is so wonderful…

    Reply
  2. Lynn Gamache says:
    September 23, 2022 at 9:38 am

    I love Autumn, and I love Fall….As the days grow cooler….I love it all! Yes, harvesting the garden and sharing produce; gathering in apples and grapes too. Yesterday we made our first grape juice for this year. And I pickled beets and got plum jam simmering all day in my Crock Pot. AND, I also prepared a salad supper as we celebrated our final day of summer for this year. Today I’ll be making beef stew and split pea soup. As the seasons change so will our daily menu too. Instead of taking flowers to our neighbours there will be soup to share and some of our last lingering cucumbers too. “His mercies are new every morning”!

    Reply

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