Should Autumn Be: Capitalized

That night, Clara walked through town. The air was sharp and sweet with woodsmoke. Pumpkins grinned from porches. A wind kicked up a spiral of copper leaves, and for a fleeting second, Clara could almost see a figure there—a tall woman in a russet cloak, her hair made of dried ferns, her laugh the sound of acorns dropping on a tin roof.

The letter was never published. But Clara didn’t mind. The next day, she walked past the baker’s shop and noticed he had changed his sign. It now read: The Best Cake of Autumn. The A was tall, proud, and gold-leafed. should autumn be capitalized

Every September, as the maple outside her window turned from deep green to a hesitant gold, Clara would open her style guide. And every year, the answer was the same. The Chicago Manual of Style said: no. Seasons are common nouns. Spring, summer, autumn, winter—lowercase unless personified or part of a proper noun. That night, Clara walked through town

Perhaps grammar is not about correctness. Perhaps it is about attention. And Autumn, I think, has earned ours. A wind kicked up a spiral of copper

Clara smiled. “Sweetheart, ‘autumn’ shouldn’t have a capital A. It’s not a name.”