My three favorite things are holidays, trails, and cats, so the holidays and trails wield a lot of influence for these rankings. (We always have cats, so they don't affect the rankings.)
12. January
11. February
10. March
The Pros: St. Patrick's Day, with its green everything, corned beef and cabbage, Celtic music performances, etc. Easter season, with all its candy, and sometimes Easter itself. Warmer, springlike weather. Early wildflowers such as springbeauties, glacier lilies, and yellowbells. Longer days. Snowmelt. Daffodils.
9. August
8. July
The Pros: The July holidays of Independence Day and Pioneer Day, with all their fireworks and red, white, and blue. The start of sunflower season, as well as fireweed and Richardson's geraniums. Camping and road trips. Lake days.7. December
6. April
12. January
January 2023
The Pros: Snow can be pretty. New Year's Day. A day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The beginning of the Valentine's Day season.
The Cons: Ugh, everything else. Cold. Smog. Slipping on ice. Driving in snow. Darkness. Dry skin.
11. February
February 2018
The Pros: Valentine's Day. A day off work for Presidents' Day. The beginning of the St. Patrick's Day season, with various mint shakes.
The Cons: Only slightly better than January; it's still dark, icy, cold, smoggy, snowy. Valentine's Day isn't even that great of a holiday.
I know some people who enjoy the winter months because you get to do cozy indoor things like reading and watching movies. But you get to do those things all year!
January and February are the only months I dislike. I like the remaining ten!
10. March
March 2017
The Pros: St. Patrick's Day, with its green everything, corned beef and cabbage, Celtic music performances, etc. Easter season, with all its candy, and sometimes Easter itself. Warmer, springlike weather. Early wildflowers such as springbeauties, glacier lilies, and yellowbells. Longer days. Snowmelt. Daffodils.The Cons: Can still be cold and snowy. Much of the month is still drab and not green.
9. August
August 2013
The Pros: Monsoonal thunderstorms. Sunflowers, fireweed, Richardson's geraniums. Ripe fruits such as plums, peaches, grapes, and thimbleberries. The excitement that comes with a new school year. Road trips. Perseid meteor shower. Lake days.
The Cons: Hot. Wildfires. No holidays. Even though it's still hot, it gets dark earlier. Starting school again can be sad. Mosquitoes and other bugs.
8. July
July 2025
The Pros: The July holidays of Independence Day and Pioneer Day, with all their fireworks and red, white, and blue. The start of sunflower season, as well as fireweed and Richardson's geraniums. Camping and road trips. Lake days.The Cons: The hottest month. Wildfires. Bugs.
7. December
December 2021
The Pros: Christmas is basically the only good thing about December. But Christmas has so much going for it that it brings December into the middle of the ranking! Christmas songs, concerts, presents, lights, decorations, trees, parties, family gatherings, candy, treats, etc. New Year's Eve, with all its year-in-review reminiscing. The charm and romance of snow hasn't worn off yet.
The Cons: Icy, smoggy, cold, dark.
6. April
April 2024
The Pros: Usually Easter. Lots of wildflowers, such as glacier lilies, arrowleaf balsamroot, phlox, and more. The minor ecological holidays of Earth Day and Arbor Day. Butterflies. Snowstorms melt quickly. Blossoming trees
The Cons: Because the temperature is still cool, it can be easy to forget that the sun is intense and it's easy to get sunburned. When Easter is over, there's not a lot happening.
5. June
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| June 2024 |
The Pros: So many wonderful wildflowers! Penstemon, Nootka rose, sego lilies, paintbrush, sticky geraniums, smallflower woodlandstar. Pride Month. Flag Day and Juneteenth. Cherry season. Longest days of the year.
The Cons: It's finally getting hot, and the sun is intense. Even though the weather is hot, many of the lakes are still cold.
4. November
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| November 2024 |
The Pros: Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Christmas season. Lingering fall leaves. Still warm days, but also some cozy cool days.
The Cons: Getting cold and dark and sometimes snowy and icy. (At least I hope we get snowy Novembers again!) Leaves have passed their peak, and things start to turn brown and gray.
3. May
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| May 2025 |
The Pros: May is not a major holiday month, so it shows you how great it is if I rate it this high! Everything is green, and it's peak wildflower season, including the majesty of mulesears and cutleaf balsamroot. It's warm but not too warm. Minor holidays of May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day, which is also the weekend I start the Fourth of July season. Snow clears from most trails.
The Cons: Only minor holidays; sometimes it's too hot. Lakes are still too cold.
2. October
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| October 2023 |
The Pros: Spectacular leaves! Halloween, with all its jack-o'-lanterns, spooky movies, candy, corn mazes, parties, and pumpkin everything. Perfect temperatures.
The Cons: Lots of mosquitoes; this is the time of year when I'm most likely to find them in my house.
1. September
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| September 2021 |
The Pros: Meteorological fall starts on September, while astronomical fall starts with the equinox, which means there are three weeks when it is literally summer and fall at the same time. There are still the summer things of sunflowers, ripe fruits, watermelon, cookouts, lake trips, and warm days. But there are also fall things like pumpkins, start of spooky season, and fabulous leaves. Labor Day.
The Cons: It's getting dark. The first half of the month is less exciting.
Well. I've wanted to write a post like this for ages, and it honestly was less satisfying than I hoped it would be. But it's nice to think about all the wonderful things to look forward to the rest of the year.
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