Why We Still Crave the Seasons in Florida

You move to Florida because you're ready to leave some things behind.

Scraping ice off the windshield. Gray February skies. Shoveling the driveway. That strange moment when the sun starts setting before you've even figured out what you're having for dinner.

And then something funny happens.

September rolls around and you start thinking about fall. October doesn't quite feel like October when it's 86 degrees and the palm trees look exactly the same as they did in July. Your friends up north start posting pictures of changing leaves, and suddenly you find yourself putting pumpkins on the porch, hanging Halloween lights, and doing everything possible to convince yourself that fall has arrived.

Because let's face it: Florida has seasons. It's just that the most recognizable one is hurricane season.

And nobody is particularly excited to decorate for that.

We may leave winter behind. We don't necessarily leave seasonality behind.

Researchers have studied the relationship between seasons and mood for decades. The most familiar example is seasonal affective disorder, which is considerably more common at northern latitudes where winter days are shorter. Florida's abundant sunshine gives us a real advantage there.

But our relationship with seasons goes beyond sunlight and temperature. Research has found seasonal patterns in mood, sleep, activity, appetite, and overall well-being, although the effects vary considerably from person to person.

The seasons don't determine whether we're happy. But we do seem to notice them.

And seasons give us something besides weather: rhythm.

They divide the year into chapters. Fall doesn't just mean cooler temperatures. It means pumpkins, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, certain foods, certain smells, and traditions we've repeated for years. Christmas brings another collection of sights, sounds, gatherings, and rituals.

In much of the country, nature helps announce those transitions.

In Florida, sometimes we have to do it ourselves.

There is something nice about having something to look forward to.

Part of the appeal may also be anticipation.

Psychological research suggests that looking forward to positive experiences can itself contribute to well-being. A vacation isn't enjoyable only once you arrive. Part of the fun is knowing it's coming.

Holidays work much the same way.

The first pumpkins appearing in October don't just represent Halloween. They tell us Halloween is coming. Christmas lights going up aren't only enjoyable on Christmas Day. They're part of several weeks of anticipation leading up to it.

Decorating turns a date on the calendar into something you can actually see.

It also creates ritual. The same wreath comes out. The pumpkins appear by the front door. The lights go up. Kids recognize traditions from previous years. Neighbors start decorating. A house, a street, or an entire community begins to feel different.

And while nobody should mistake a strand of Christmas lights for mental-health treatment, there is something genuinely pleasant about filling the year with small periods of anticipation, tradition, and celebration.

Florida didn't lose the seasons. We just do them differently.

For many Floridians, this feeling may be especially familiar now.

Millions of people have moved to Florida in recent years, including large numbers from northern states. They came for plenty of good reasons, and very few are probably nostalgic for scraping ice off a windshield at 7:00 in the morning.

But you can be happy to leave winter behind and still miss fall.

You can love palm trees and still want pumpkins in October.

You can spend Christmas afternoon outside and still want the house glowing with warm white lights when the sun goes down.

Those things aren't contradictory. They're simply a Florida version of seasonality.

Sometimes we bring the season with us.

Maybe that's why seasonal decorating feels particularly at home here.

When the leaves don't change, we put fall on the porch. When October still feels suspiciously like August, the pumpkins and Halloween lights tell us otherwise. And when December arrives without snow, we wrap lights around the palms.

We get to keep the parts of the seasons we actually wanted: the anticipation, the traditions, the celebrations, and the feeling that something new is beginning.

The snow shovel can stay up north.

And hurricane season doesn't need decorations.

We moved to Florida. We brought the seasons with us.