CINDY, INCIDENTALLY:

Every year right around this time I begin to suffer from a little something I like to call “fall envy.”

It usually starts with phone calls from friends on the East Coast who taunt me with stories of apple picking, drinking mulled wine cider and leaf peeping in the countryside.

As a native Southern Californian, I have grown accustomed to the unrelenting bragging others have when it comes to seasons outside of summer or spring.

But with this, I’ve also learned how to supplement the subtler seasons with props that help me get in the spirit, even when it’s 75 degrees in the middle of October.

This can often mean lighting caramel-apple scented candles, lathering up with pumpkin lotion or slipping on cute rain boots at the first hint of morning dew.

I also look for points of interest in the city to help me get in touch with the seasonal change, even if I am still wearing flip-flops and a tank top.

Here are some great ways to celebrate the fall equinox:

Drinks, sweets and beer suddenly taste like fall, with pumpkin spiced lattes, pumpkin ice cream, scones made of pumpkin and cranberry and at Huntington Beach Beer Company — right around the middle of October — you can saddle up at the bar for a pint of pumpkin ale with traces of nutmeg brewed into every batch.

Another great way to bring in the fall season is joining one of the running groups in the area who begin to train for the Surf City Marathon scheduled in February. You can also hit up the Turkey Trot 5K in Long Beach or farther south in Dana Point to limber up for the big run.

My friends and I are planning a fall bonfire by one of the fire pits at Huntington State Beach. While it is fun to be out there in the middle of a balmy summer night, enjoying the crispness of a fall night bundled up in a blanket is a great way to enjoy the season.

Seasonally, fruits and vegetables begin to change shape; watermelons and cantaloupes make room for colorful and distorted shaped squashes that sparkle with a flavor that only comes from a fall vegetable. Stop by Huntington Beach’s Tuesday night Farmer’s Market at the Pier Plaza in Huntington Beach and talk to the farmers who have plenty to say about fall fruits and vegetables and the bounty they bring to a dinner table.

Finally, I have to admit, even as “mature” grown-up, for me the best way to get into the fall season is by carving pumpkins. I head to the local pumpkin patch, pick out the biggest, smallest or weirdest shaped pumpkin I can find, and I let my inner artist come out. There’s nothing quite like placing a candle inside and watching it glow in the dark to make you remember that summer is over, but it’s also the beginning of a great new season.

How do others celebrate fall in Orange County? Send a few of your favorite ways to paprgrrl@gmail.com.

CINDY ARORA is a freelance writer for the Independent.