Hey did you know that it’s still Autumn?

Hey! You over there with the tinsel and the Christmas music that’s been playing since Halloween. You that are dreaming of snow and icicles and all that junk. You that are driving me nuts when it only rains instead of snows. You that rushed through Back to School and Halloween and Thanksgiving to get to the so-called most wonderful time of the year.

It’s. Still. Autumn.

I know that it’s a rule here in Utah that in-between seasons don’t count and we should only have two; Summer and Winter – but I am here to tell you that Autumn is STILL happening.

That’s right. September, October, November, AND December – all months of Autumn. I am not a Winter baby, I am an Autumn baby. (or Fall baby, which would explain all the clumsiness)

I’m so tired of people rushing through the seasons just to make Winter happen. I’m sick of not being able to relish in Autumn, it’s my favourite season and by golly I am going to enjoy it!!

So in honour of Autumn and in the spirit of my “What Summer Is” post, I am going to extol the virtues of Autumn.

Full Moon on Halloween night

Autumn starts with A, so that makes it Awesome.

Sorry – that was cheesy. I have a cold and my brain is not fully functioning.

Autumn starts out with mornings that are crisper than usual. The afternoons are still hot as heck, but the mornings and evenings are cool and lovely. Yardwork can be done because it’s finally not one thousand degrees and your face won’t melt off if you exert an iota of energy. You can start wearing socks on occasion and the feeling of the cotton stretching over your toes is welcome. It feels good to pull your jeans out of the back of the closet. You don’t have to shave your legs as often. There are back to school clothes and the excitement of a new year. You can open the windows. The house gets aired out.

As the days get progressively shorter and cooler, the layers come out. Long sleeved tshirts, cardigans, flannel button down shirts. It starts to rain and the leaves change colours. The fact that the mountains change colour into this cool rusty red make up for the lack of real rain. Sometimes there’s snow, but it doesn’t stick around and it’s still a form of precipitation, so I’ll take it.

There are apples and all the treats that come along with it; apple cider, apple pie, baked apples, caramel apples, apple Danish, etc. I love apples; their cheery red colour, their juciness, how they taste with peanut butter, how magic happens when they are combined with cinnamon and sugar.

Jack

There are pumpkins with their fun orange colour and weird shapes. There are pumpkin seeds, pumpkin and chocolate-chip cookies and bread, there is pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice. The smell of pumpkin spice is the best.

You can wear a tshirt and a turtleneck and a cardigan and a leather jacket and jeans and cords and tights and wool socks and boots. There are cute hats and gloves. You don’t have to wear a coat yet – just a jacket.

The colours are all gold and orange and red and brown and deep green. Autumn colours are my favourite.

There is the fun of Halloween and corn mazes and hay bales. There is Thanksgiving with all the food and remembering what you are thankful for. There are gourds and cornucopias. There is the beginning of the hockey season (usually).

There is the contrast of the orange leaves against the blue sky. The colour of the sky in Autumn is different. Bluer.

There is the smell of the heat coming on for the first time. There are open windows during the day and warm fuzzy blankets at night.

There is all kinds of change; from the weather to the trees to the types of clothes that you wear.

Muddied Timberlands from
walking the dog

Did I mention boots and hats and jackets? I know I did, but yeah.

There is snuggling up with a good book. There are good movies.

There is switching from cotton to flannel sheets. There is cashmere and there are slippers. There is so much coziness.

I know I mentioned boots, but they deserve many many mentions.

The air is better and the colours are better and even though everything is dying, everything feels like a new beginning because of all the change that is happening.