Always autumn and never Halloween

Fall, my favorite season, has been weird for me this year.

First off, the summer temperatures in this area hung around the low 60s almost the whole summer, minus some spikes or sudden drops here or there (I actually wore my coat to work one day in August). So, when September came and the leaves started changing, I couldn't grasp that the season really was changing. It made me realize that perhaps one thing that has always caused me to look forward to autumn every year is the obvious change in temperatures to cooler and brisker.

I do NOT like being hot, and while I learned to enjoy summer once I moved to the drier and cooler climates of the Western states, I anxiously awaited the shot of pure energy and enjoyment that comes with the transition in temperatures and the knowledge that all my favorite things are on the horizon:

• Indian corn, pumpkins and gourds decorating businesses and homes
• Cornfield mazes after dark
• Bonfires, hot chocolate and s'mores
• Halloween decorations
• Suspense movies
• Baking things with pumpkin flavors
• Pumpkin spice coffee

With all these things missing, I have to remind myself that it's fall here in Germany/Switzerland. The leaves are indeed changing and the weather is brisker; we've had our first frost, and lots of drizzly and foggy days. But, while the cues are familiar for fall, we didn't experience the drastic change from 90 degrees and humidity to 50s and below-freezing mornings. It doesn't "feel" different.

Then there's the absence of Halloween decorations. Europeans know what Halloween is because of the flood of American TV shows and movies into the European market. In recent years you can even find a few Halloween decorations here or there at the stores. I saw some a week ago at two different grocery stores, but it comprised only one shelf and was extremely limited. I certainly haven't seen the styrofoam tombstones, fake cobwebs, bedsheet ghosts, inflatable pumpkins and witches, or the orange and purple lights in windows anywhere.

There aren't shelves loaded with Halloween candy, or plastic costumes on sale at the stores. There's no office party where you can come to work in a themed outfit, or cupcakes topped with candy corn. No Halloween night costume get together at a friend's house.

It's just weird.

I tried to make one of our typical Halloween snacks the other night -- caramel apples. But so far, I haven't found bags of caramel squares at any stores, and definitely none of those Concord flat caramel wrappers that you fold over an apple, stab with a wooden stick and pop in the oven until it gets warm and soft.

A friend gave me a Concord caramel apple mix in a box. You pour the powder into simmering milk on the stove, add sugar and then heat until it gets to 242 degrees fahrenheit. I borrowed a candy thermometer but couldn't get the mix past 200. When I turned the heat all the way, the needle crept up to about 235 and then the mixture burned. Following the directions, I let the mixture cool for 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes were up, it had hardened into solid rock in the pan. It took me days to get it all out.

I only have 3 cans of pumpkin puree, so I haven't made anything with that yet, although I expect to soon. And, since Europeans are universally horrified if we ever mention that at home we would often drink pumpkin spice lattes at the coffee shop, we don't expect to be finding any of those around here in the near future.

It's beautiful here and we're loving the season. But, it has lost that ability to give me a shot of adrenaline every morning when I open my eyes and look forward to another day of my favorite season. I have to keep reminding myself that it's here. It feels like just another day in Europe. (Again, not that I'm complaining.)