The first day of fall is just one week away and restaurants are preparing to take another hit.

“A lot of us are going into these months thinking, you know, how many more days can I survive until I have to close my restaurant?” said Kevin Boehm, a co-founder of the Boka Restaurant Group, an independent restaurant coalition.

Boehm is also a restaurant owner in Chicago, where COVID-19 restrictions have slashed indoor capacity. And he says outdoor seating won't be possible much longer.

The National Restaurant Association surveyed owners around the country. About three quarters say they're using patio space right now and hope to continue doing so for a least a few more weeks.

Outdoor dining is bringing in nearly half of their daily sales but keeping customers outside will soon get more costly.

“Equipment for outdoor dining, especially when it gets cold, get expensive, be it a tent for a parking lot, be it heaters or anything like that, that starts adding up in costs,” said Mike Whatley, VP of State and Local Affairs at the National Restaurant Association.

The association wants local governments to start grant programs for buying that equipment to keep temporary regulations in place that allow for more outdoor service.

The coalition hopes to see increased indoor capacity for cooler months. They're also lobbying for Congress to pass the Restaurants Act, which would create a $120 billion grant program for independent restaurants.

Boehm says there could be rolling closures through the winter.

“By the time we get to next summer, we're going to be looking at a much smaller array of restaurants, a lot less choices, a lot more chains, and the independent restaurant is going to be an endangered species,” said Boehm.

The National Restaurant Association says owners that are innovative are the ones that will make it through this crisis.

The fall foliage season's yellows, oranges, and reds are slowly expanding across the United States. As seen through tree leaves, the change from summer to fall is changing at a different pace due to climate change.

The increasing global temperature creates wetter and warmer areas of the country, which directly impacts the trees and their photosynthesis process.

"September is the most important month for determining the timing and quality of the fall color," said Howard Neufeld, professor of biology at Appalachian State University.

Climate change is extending summer temperatures into September, which alters the fall foliage. A shifting summer season will change the fall season.

"In a future high-CO2 world that is warmer, we may see a longer summer season," said Neufeld.

Higher air temperatures cause the atmosphere to hold more water vapor, leading to more rain in areas.

Neufeld says warmer and wetter weather creates duller red-colored leaves.

The red leaves are what define the beauty of the fall foliage season.

The orange and yellow leaves will always exist because the green of the chlorophyll masks the pigments responsible for those colors during the summer.

Climate change will also change the makeup of the forests and the leaf canopy. The warmer weather will drive some trees to relocate to the north.

There was a similar movement of Florida trees following the retreat of the glaciers.

"They can move — not like in 'Lord of the Rings' where they can walk — but through seed dispersal. If it's too warm in the South, then they'll have to move north," said Neufeld.

As the leaves shift from green to their fall colors, they do so at different time intervals because of the warmer temperatures.

"The intensity of the color is not as great because you don't get all the colors coming up at one time," said Neufeld.

The fall foliage tourism industry is estimated to pump $25 billion to $30 billion into economies across the country each year.

Scott Withers at Newsy first reported this story.

The week after Labor Day has historically represented the unofficial start of fall, and though most leaves have retained their green color, the season of pumpkin spice is already in full effect.

On Aug. 24 -- a full month before the official start of fall -- Starbucks posted a tweet that sent half of the internet into a frenzy, while the other half shook their heads in despair: "Pumpkin has entered the chat."

It was a de facto announcement about the return of the coffee chain's cult favorite Pumpkin Spice Latte, a drink some look forward to all year. A week earlier, competitor Dunkin' posted about the return of their own pumpkin coffee confection.

Every year, it feels like pumpkin spice mania comes earlier and earlier. Though some of these products may be blatant marketing ploys, some segments of society seem to welcome it back with open arms every time. From coffee to candles to deodorant, pumpkin spice is ubiquitous -- a signal that fall is upon us once more. Even if it's still 90 degrees outside and there's nary a golden leaf in sight, it's suddenly time for fires, apple picking and cozy sweaters. Fall begins when we say it does!

But why do so many crave the return of this season so much? What are we really reaching for when we cling to the edge of fall's garment, hoping it will envelop us sooner than it has before?

Part of it is nostalgia. Part of it is the warmth the season brings. But it could also just be the events of the past 18 months that are causing many of us to feel ready for fall early.

With fall, comes nostalgia

Some of the joyous anticipation of fall is just that: anticipation. When our mouths drool while imagining warm mugs of apple cider and pumpkin bread, it's the anticipation that gets us excited, rather than the actual reward, one psychologist says.

"So come August, we're like fall is kind of around the corner, we're anticipating all the good things that are coming," said Richard Lopez, professor of psychology at Bard College.

There are powerful cues that play into the nostalgia surrounding fall -- possibly even more so than with other seasons. There's a nip in the air, the leaves are different colors, kids and their oversized backpacks are schlepping to school -- all of these signs are triggers that, oftentimes, remind us of our younger selves, Lopez said.

Think of holidays like Halloween, and the childlike joy it brings, with its costumes and bright orange-wrapped chocolate. Or even specials like "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." These are things that bring many of us back to an earlier, more simpler time.

Those layers of positive memories and nostalgia, coupled with the anticipation of what's to come, all play into the excitement many feel about fall, Lopez said.

"It's this change of season; there's a lot of things to look forward to. We had those same experiences when we were young," he said. "Other times of year, there isn't that effect with that nostalgia or that anticipation."

Tom Hanks' character in the 1998 movie "You've Got Mail" sums it up perfectly: "Don't you love New York in the fall?" he asks. "It makes me want to buy school supplies."

Fall can offer comfort in tumultuous times

But when we think of fall, it's not just nostalgia at play. There's a cozy aspect as well, visions of s'mores and snuggly hayrides. Even in beloved pumpkin spice sweets, it's not the pumpkin flavor that most people love, it's the warming spices of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger.

The season, quite literally, makes people feel warm. And by extension, that could make folks feel safe, or cared for. The general wariness many feel from the last 18 months due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest last summer and climate change-related weather events this year, could also be part of why people are craving fall sooner rather than later.

Human beings naturally want certainty and order, Lopez said. Recent events, amplified by social media and near-instant access to news, have denied that.

"It's just a lot to handle," he said. "All these things were true before, but we didn't have these kinds of events at this scale to force us to think about it."

This could make this upcoming fall a little more difficult, Lopez said.

"We want that feeling of safety and coziness, but ... in previous years, pre-Covid, we'd have an active spring and an active summer, and then we'd love to go home and cozy up," he said. "But home is a strange place now, because we've spent so much time here."

It means that those associations we've had with home, safety, coziness, comfort -- maybe even fall -- could be changing.

That doesn't mean that fall won't be as cozy as it has been in the past, or that those first few sips of sweet pumpkin coffee won't hit. It just means many Americans are different now than they were prior to March 2020. It's OK if fall feels different, too.