If there’s one thing the past few years have taught us about the way we live, it’s that we all care a little more about the spaces we inhabit—and a little less about the fuss and formality that used to come with keeping them spotless. Cleaning isn’t some once-a-week chore to be suffered through in rubber gloves while muttering under your breath; it’s become an everyday part of modern life, a way to feel in control of our little corner of the world, especially when the world outside feels anything but orderly. Yet for all that shifting attitude, the choice…

There is a moment in late September—or sometimes early October—when the air changes in a way that makes your chest loosen without your permission. You step outside expecting the same heavy, damp warmth that has followed you around since June, and instead you feel something cool and dry on your arms. The sunlight is different, too, softer and more golden, and for a moment you think: autumn is finally here. That is exactly the feeling that WCTV meteorologists are predicting for this weekend, and they have a name for it that is equal parts poetic and disappointing: the “false fall.”…