There are certain realities about Birmingham weather. One of them being that summers are hot, miserable, and best spent lying under/in front of/directly on top of a fan. By September, we’ve forgotten what it’s like to want to be outside. We congratulate ourselves on having made it to work most days and not making permanent pilgrimage to the beach.

Then fall finally hits, and we kind of wish we lived outdoors. Deep front porches and rooftop decks are the most valuable real estate, and all the best entertaining happens outside. At the same time, the city comes alive, and we can’t wait to go exploring. We humbly argue that Birmingham is possibly the best place on earth from late September through mid December.

We offer the following as evidence:

– Food festivals. The Greek Festival and St. George’s Middle Eastern Food Festival each offer delicious food to eat in or takeaway. They’re also handily located near parks (Railroad and George Ward, respectively) should you opt for an impromptu picnic. And you should.

– Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve. Nature’s refuge in the city steps up its offerings with first Saturday Wine and Cheese Hikes and third Friday Beer on the Back Porch. The hike is pretty self-explanatory. For the back porch nights, a $25 admission fee is worth dinner, music and three drink tokens, plus the warm, fuzzy feeling of helping nature by drinking beer. Everyone wins.

– Accessible culture. Festivals like Moss Rock and downtown’s ongoing Art Crawl bring art shows and local artists to everyday spaces. The Day of the Dead Festival adds Southern influences to the Mexican Day of Remembrance.

– Halloween without coats. Our Halloween costumes have infinite possibilities because they don’t need to be made of or covered by wool. Not that we’re endorsing sexy anything, but good old Batman looks better without a pea coat. (With this year’s cold snap, he might have needed a fleece, but at least he wasn’t battling snow flurries.)

– Fall menu items. The Brussel Sprout Kale Salad has made its triumphant return to Post Office Pies. Yes, you should still get pizza, but when was the last time you got excited about salad? Brewery menus count too, and we’re fans of the Pillar to Post Rye – aged in Bulleit Bourbon barrels – on tap at Trim Tab. Plus, the No Joka Mocha is back at Avondale Brewery, and it’s finally cool enough to crave a Coffee Oatmeal Stout at Good People.

That’s our list. What’s yours?