Pumpkin Spice Lattes:: The Modern Day Method of Keeping Traditions

When does fall begin for you? When sweaters are added back into your clothing rotation? Perhaps it’s when the familiar trees around you start to change color? What about when your kids finally decide on a Halloween costume (and then a different one 10 minutes later)? Maybe fall begins for you when you’ve had your first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season.

I’d venture a guess that many of us heavily associate autumn with the spicy smells and tastes of the limited time only PSL.

I know that pumpkin flavoring in coffee isn’t for everyone (I’m looking at my husband)… But it does have a unique way of turning non-coffee drinkers into coffee drinkers, even if just for a season. Now, if you are a dedicated coffee consumer and tire at the thought of PSL making your coffee shop lines longer, don’t roll your eyes just yet. I have been considering pumpkin spice’s popularity, and I have an idea that it’s about more than sugary syrup.

I think drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes is a modern-day method that many are using to keep and observe traditions.

Observing seasonal rhythms makes us feel grounded and connected to particular times of the year. We can only drink Pumpkin Spiced Lattes in the fall, so those overdone annual Instagram photos of leaves, boots, and coffee cup in hand?

Tradition.

Each year at our family Christmas celebrations, my grandma had a snack table. To this day, I can’t eat an Original flavored Bugle without feeling like I’m wearing a turtleneck and sitting in front of the fireplace in her farmhouse. In fact, I would not even consider eating an Original flavored Bugle at another time of year. It would just feel inappropriate.  

Food is magic, is it not?

It’s a lovely thing to consider that as parents, we get to cultivate what we want our family to repeat. Take a lesson from Starbucks and consider a “limited time only” food or drink that you can incorporate into your fall rhythms. This is a simple and homey way to lay down some roots. It can also be delicious.

Enjoy the versatility of layering clothes. Delight in the changing reds and yellows in your neighborhood. Best of luck to you as you navigate the process of Halloween costumes. Drink that Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Take pleasure in whatever’s in your cup—whether pumpkiny in nature or not. Then plan to do so again next year.