Raise Your Hand if you LOVE Fall in Scottsdale!

Do you feel it? You know, that little something in the air. No, not necessarily cooler temperatures – although the promise of a bit of a chill certainly makes us giddy. There’s a certain energy and excitement all around the Valley. What we’re talking about is that slight “extra spring” in everyone’s step this time of year. It’s finally fall!

Some may scoff at the Sonoran Desert’s version of fall. Indeed, we won’t be crunching on colorful leaves underfoot, nor will we need to don a hat and scarf at our football games. Yet the autumn season in the desert, although subtle, is definitely a welcomed change.

The fall season brings a generous fruit production to many desert plants such as barrel cacti, soapberry trees, and desert hackberries; giving the desert floor lovely hues of bright oranges, reds and yellows. Fall is when the myriad of desert reptile species that have been busily scurrying about begin to become less and less active. It’s this time of the year that many species of wintering hawks and raptors return to the desert, such as kestrels, Merlins, and prairie falcons. You’re also bound to see Anna’s and Costa’s hummingbirds during the fall season as their presence becomes more prolific when the temperatures begin to drop.

Here, we thought we’d present seven ways we know fall has finally come to Scottsdale. Are you in agreement?
1. When you open the door one morning and the air outside is cooler than the air inside.
2. Hot water is no longer ruthlessly invading your cold-water faucet.
3. You find yourself rolling your car window down with your arm gloriously dangling about in wonder and disbelief that it’s not too hot to do so!
4. From salsa to pasta and cookies to oatmeal, every aisle in Trader Joe’s has pumpkin-spiced something.
5. You’re met with a surprise when your bare feet touch cold stone floors in the morning.
6. You can still walk your dog even if you didn’t make it out by 5 am.
7. Soup sounds like a good idea again.