I realize that we only saw a glimpse of summer this year – if you can even call a handful of hot days that – but I am so excited that fall has arrived.
September by far is my favourite time of year – apart from Christmas (which is nearly three months away by the way!).
There are so many things that I love about fall and I patiently wait for September to roll around each and every year.
I love the crispness of the air first thing in the morning and late at night. I love the colour of the leaves and how they crunch under your feet as you walk down Red Deer’s beautiful trail system. I love the farmer’s market with all of the pumpkins and homemade breads. I love sipping on hot chocolate with a few marshmallows thrown in or tea with a cinnamon stick for extra fall-like flavour. I love wrapping up in a blanket and watching a good movie. I love wearing my slippers or a sweater so warm that it feels like you’re being hugged. I love feeling the heat from the fireplace. I love baking apple crisp, cookies, banana bread – you name it. I love cooking yummy ‘comfort food’ type meals and making homemade soups and fresh buns. All of these things really appeal to me and at my house they’re already in full swing.
Every year when it gets the slight bit chilly outside I go into a nesting mode of sorts. I’m done with gardening, weeding and cutting the grass. I’m done with babying my flowers and plants. I’m just plain done with being outside in the yard. Don’t get me wrong – after winter I long for these things, but at the end of the summer I’m ready for something different. When fall hits my thinking changes and I crave the coziness of my home and all the things that come with it. I have the urge to clean the house top to bottom and to always have something baking in the oven or cooking on the stove.
Even though I’ve never lived on a farm and would not make a good country girl for fear of getting too dirty or seeing lots of bugs (I wish I could deal with these things better), I really love the smell of harvest and the red sky and sunsets harvest creates in the evening.
With fall comes Thanksgiving and there’s something warm and fuzzy about that holiday. Get-togethers with family and friends, turkey in the oven and an apple pie cooling on the counter, laughter around the table and full glasses of wine – it doesn’t get any better than that.
I also think that one of the reasons I love fall so much is because soon after comes Christmas – the most wonderful time of the year in my books!
I have already started thinking about Christmas – probably since last Christmas ended to be honest. Being a planner I have three-quarters of my shopping done. I’m anticipating the decorations in the store – I have already seen some! And I look forward to putting my tree up Dec. 1 and making the rest of the house look festive too!
It’s always fun to go through the boxes of Christmas decorations each year and pull everything out. It’s like a pre-Christmas celebration. You forget exactly what you’ve packed up in those little boxes and when the next holiday season rolls around it’s like a little bit of a surprise!
The weeks leading up to Dec. 25 are definitely a highlight of each year for me. Now if we could skip winter, still including Christmas in there somewhere, and go straight to spring!
efawcett@reddeerexpress.com
