Fall is my favourite time of year.

Most people can’t wait for the warmth and sunshine of the spring and summer, but I love autumn: the colourful leaves on the trees, the smell of the crisp air, the contrast between the coolness outside and the coziness inside, the chance to abandon any pretense of being tanned and bikini-ready and just snuggling up in boots, sweaters, and long coats.

I love the rain, too, and I think a lot of people — even sun worshippers — were relieved when the cool, wet weather finally arrived, putting an end to a heat streak that was too much of a good thing. After weeks of record high temperatures, sleepless nights, and frayed nerves, West Coasters were ready to say adios to this sweltering summer.

But when we were finally able to turn off the air conditioning, when darkness started to descend earlier, and the arrival of pumpkins and bags of candy in the stores signaled that Halloween was around the corner, I realized something: Fall was really living up to its name this year.

Much like a full moon is said to trigger unusual human behavour, it was as though fall was making people — well, me in particular — especially clumsy and conspiring to connect them physically and forcefully to the earth and any structures that may be jutting out from it.The way things have been going, the season could well be called Trip, Tip, Bump, Thump, Bang, Boom, Crash, Smack, or Slam.

The other day I arrived at work and parked my car in the parkade like normal. Like normal, I got out, turned back to press the remote and lock the car up with that satisfying “woot woot” sound, and promptly smashed into a large concrete post that was right in front of me. That was not normal.

My first thought was not for my sore nose or bruised shoulder: I was horrified to think how that must have appeared to onlookers or whoever may be manning the security cameras. Let’s face it, it would be pretty funny — in a Wile E. Coyote kind of way — to see someone open a car door, get out, and smack into a pole two inches away from them, all in one fell swoop. At least it would have been funny if it hadn’t happened to me.

I had hoped that the bizarre bout of clumsiness was a one-shot deal, but no.

That weekend, l was leaving a restaurant with a girlfriend when a young guy at the bar gave us a smile. I was in the lead, and turned to flash my friend a smug “we may be pumas (not quite cougars, yet) but we’ve still got it” grin and violently slammed into the door. I had assumed it would open when pushed, but apparently that only works when doors are not locked.

I can only imagine how my unexpected introduction to the inanimate object looked from the other side of the glass, and judging from my friend‘s reaction — hysterical giggling and an inability to move, which did little to soothe my injured forehead or pride — it was pretty amusing. I’m guessing my crash course in the law of inertia did not go unnoticed by the guy at the bar, people in the restaurant, or strangers in the parking lot, but I reassured myself that is wasn’t my fault: it’s the season.

It’s fall, and I’m just glad Mother Nature has provided all these big, soft piles of leaves for us to land in.

Erin McKay is a Langley freelance writer.