What the Pumpkin Spice-ification of August is Really About

I sit here in a tank top and shorts, not because it is unseasonably warm today, but because it is, in fact, still the month of August. A month that falls squarely, entirely in the summer season. We still have nearly a month to go before fall officially begins...yet somehow, pumpkin spice lattes are on menus. Halloween decor is everywhere you look. And I'm calling it as I see it: The pumpkin spice-ificiation of August has gone way too far.

Now, listen. I'm a summer girlie over a fall girlie, always. Give me a fresh tomato over a crisp apple. A cold brew with lots of cold foam over a pumpkin spice latte. A strawberry glaze over anything maple-flavored. Give me sun and long days and breezy little dresses.

But that's not all this is about.

I've noticed that we feel this constant need to rush onto the next thing. Halloween decor is out in July, Christmas stuff dominates the shelves in October. Yes, this is about capitalism and overconsumption. There's more to it though: It's also about our need to just look to the next thing instead of stopping to enjoy what's right here, right now.

And right now, I don't want to pretend it's fall and sip a pumpkin-y drink. I want to savor this particular moment. I want to squeeze in a few more pool days and get ice cream for the fourth day in a row. I want to take long evening walks and watch the sun set. I want to be present.

And sure, I can just not order the PSL, or not buy the Halloween decor, or not start saying things like "the summer really flew by" (It is flying by, but why are we speaking about in past tense?). I can mentally stay in summer.

But what I can't change the culture that constantly tells us it's time to move on to the next thing. All I can do is comment on it. So drink the PSL if you're ready for it. But maybe, I don't know, join me in questioning why this is a thing?