What Season Makes You Feel the Most Romantic?

Every time I have seriously fallen in love, it's always been autumn. I don't know why. Maybe the smell of burning leaves is an aphrodisiac for me. All I know is that if I started seeing a guy in July, or August, or February, the relationship fizzled and died within, at best, a couple of months. My husband Alex and I made the transition from good friends to potential life-mates in the course of a very long telephone call on October 10, 1999, and we celebrate the anniversary of that call every year. I've been happily married to my spouse for six years now, and there's still something about the changing leaves, carving pumpkins together, and the warm days and cool nights that just kindles my romantic side.

For a variety of reasons, a lot of my friends have good luck forming lasting relationships in the spring. Julie Andrews said it best in the Broadway musical Camelot when she sang about "The Lusty Month of May":

Whence this fragrance wafting through the air?

What sweet feelings does its scent transmute?

Whence this perfume floating everywhere?

Don't you know, it's that dear forbidden fruit!

I suppose the connection between new life, new leaves, and new love makes sense. After all, the concept of "The Lusty Month of May" was not invented by Lerner and Loewe, the composer and lyricist for Camelot. Why do you think they were called "May poles"?

If fall can be counted on to make my heartstrings sing, winter is a close second. After all, cold weather is the perfect excuse to snuggle up close to your sweetie for warmth and stay there for three months! Oh sure, you have to come up with a Christmas or Hanukkah present or two, but that's a small price to pay for three months of snowed-in bliss! Just think of all the romantic activities associated with the dark months: snowball fights, drinking hot cocoa laced with Bailey's Irish Cream, cuddling in front of a roaring fireplace, feeding each other hot, roasted marshmallows, dancing together on New Year's Eve, driving around town looking at everyone else's holiday lights, curling up in bed watching the snow fall...Sure, your gift certificate from Victoria's Secrets will have to wait until the more revealing stuff goes on sale, but just think about how much full you'll have when it does!

Summer. Does anyone fall in love in the summertime? I can't imagine it, but then, summer is my least favorite of the seasons. It's just too hot. Hmm. Now I'm getting the idea that for some activities, hot can be good! I'm thinking of long walks on the beach, skinny-dipping in the moonlight, licking melted ice cream off each other, water-balloon fights, Fourth of July camp-outs, private picnics...

The bible tells us "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." Apparently, this can include a "right" time to fall in love. If, like me, you find that there's a seasonal pattern to your long-term relationships, I say: Don't fight it! For whatever reason, you're just wired that way. And who knows? The person you're falling for in "your" season just might be wired that way, too!