It’s that time of year again; we have been bit by the vampires, chased by the werewolves and hit by the overwhelming wave of fall season.

In California we do not know it’s autumn by leaves changing color or the weather getting cooler, because we are still in the blazing 80s. Instead, we know fall by the excessive amounts of pumpkin flavoring in our food and drinks and the decorations all over town.

It’s too much, but I can’t stop myself from loving it.

Halloween stores opened up all around Thousand Oaks the moment September hit, and grocery stores hopped on board this trend by stocking their aisles with spooky seasonal favorites.

Senior Tara Atwood said she enjoys fall more here in Southern California than in her home state of Oregon.

“It is annoying though when you are enjoying a holiday and then they, the corporations, burst in the next holiday. You want to enjoy the moment in the current season,” Atwood said.

I can’t help but buy into the “pumpkin frenzy” and I begin to feel this euphoric sensation about fall. There is something special about seeing so many pumpkins that makes me want to put on my favorite pair of boots, wrap a scarf around my neck and walk around with my warm pumpkin spice latte.

The overwhelming amount of everything fall early in September can really take the purpose of the season away.

There must be a limit to the amount of pumpkin flavoring we use. Do we even have an understanding of autumn and its cultural significance?

“We start losing the plot when pumpkin spice Peeps come knocking. Now they’ve pumpkin spiced SPAM and nothing matters anymore. That’s right. SPAM. What was once a joke is available for purchase at Wal-Mart. Who’s laughing now? Not me,” Zac Cadwalader wrote in a Sprudge article.

Cadwalader described the epidemic of pumpkin spice and early seasonal features as ruining the sense of enjoyment for the actual season. Most people relate autumn to a time filled with pumpkin spice rather than the social significance of the season.

In a Live Science article by Nola Taylor Redd, Barnet and Southgate College anthropologist Cristina De Rossi said in the United Kingdom “autumn, or fall, is rich with different festivals which mainly celebrate the return of light, harvest, and, like spring, rebirth through death.”

Also, in Mexico, autumn includes the celebration of Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead on Nov. 2. On this day altars are set up and specially decorated for loved ones who have died.

“I am obsessed with every season to be honest,” sophomore Emily Carlson said. “I love Halloween, and I love Christmas and all the different holidays because growing up I was raised on, you know, you decorate the house, you have fun, you do things for each specific holiday. So, I have grown up with the holidays being super special to me.”

With so much meaning and importance behind this season we must learn to not become overly obsessed with any of the new pumpkin spiced food but rather be involved in the present. Fall is the perfect time to create memories that can truly be held onto for a lifetime.

It is time we put less value on the superficial things such as pumpkin spiced lattes and Halloween costumes. Instead we must enjoy the privilege we have to celebrate the season and the holidays with our loved ones making memories and spreading joy.