The summer-fall is the best part of the seasonal year in the Upper Peninsula. We’re in the early portion of the fall where the world still looks like summer and the air begins to cool as global air currents shift once again to bring fresh Canadian air across the lake. The scenery looks inviting, healthy and green. While the world is looking great, I can use this time of convergence to get after things that I put off for heat related complaints. Running, hiking and biking are great activities in and of themselves; I utilize them for exercise and keeping fit. But during the early fall, with the perfect temperature I can tone it down and enjoy the ride, walk or climb without packing an extra shirt. Directly on campus the appeal of this season is enormous. It is an isolated time in the school season at Houghton where students can wear the same garments inside the classroom and at the picnic table for lunch.
As the semester goes by we see some of the trees and students go through a garment change to reflect an increasing school spirit as the Huskies Football Team wraps up its season and the hockey team gears up to head into their season. The fading green gives way to reds, browns and golds. Students load up on sweatshirts sporting the Michigan Technological University logo and the yellow leaves move through campus. Along with certain spiced drinks there comes the warm tea and hot cocoa to be enjoyed while the weather begins to turn nasty outside. The window view with a book and hot cocoa becomes a tradition unobserved by our equatorial friends. Our spirits stay high as the winter snows strip the trees and flatten the grass. If anything, the Huskies ruffle their fur and join together for even crazier winter fun.
As a popular location for winter sports, students who are interested in all manner of outdoor winter sports will find that their hometown niche sport has a whole family of friends here in Houghton who enjoy the same wild and crazy outdoor activities. In between all of the homework, quizzes, tests, exams, meetings, office hours, meal times and communicating students get outside and enjoy all that nature offers them, from the snow biking with fat tires to shredding it on Mont Ripley with their skis or boards. You don’t just have to do downhill to enjoy skiing; the Tech Trails offer cross-country skiing and even snowshoeing. These crazy activities all come mostly during the spring semester, where it never is spring until the semester is over! Spring is a time in Houghton where we see the spring semester coming to a close, the snow melting, and the first blades of grass begin to push themselves back upright after the crushing spring semester weather. Spring is a time where the sights of new beginnings are all around us. The possibilities are thrilling, with summer and the promise of rest and recuperation just around the bend. School begins to slip away and summer plans are on the rise. Springtime heralds weather that will get back to wearing your inside clothing outside again.
Compared to them all, however, the summer-fall is the best season. It is the most stable of times, where the greenery is established, the weather is predictable. You can wear your clothing where you please and you don’t need extras of much of anything. Even though I have chosen it as my favorite part of our seasons, I still love them all, they are each unique and hold their own place in the progression of the year. A herald each to their own joys. So enjoy your year in Houghton. Each day is unique.
