I had a hard time coming
up with a topic for today's Thursday Diary, so I'm just going to wing
it for today. Hope you don't mind if my train of thoughts seem to take a detour around Albuquerque every now and again!
As I sit here typing this out, it is just past midnight on the morning of September 26, 2013. The temperature is very fall like...I'd estimate it at being roughly four or five Celsius, which for late September is sadly around seasonal here in Canada.
(Apparently in Canada, half the year is winter, don't you know!)
To be completely honest with you, I have to admit that autumn is probably my all-time favourite season. The air is crisp, the leaves change colours, and with Thanksgiving and Halloween just around the corner (remember, in Canada we celebrate both of those holidays in October). Mind you, the fall also brings forth a lot of bittersweet memories as my wonderful grandmother passed away almost twenty-two years ago just before Halloween. But on the other hand, my mom's birthday is in November, and my niece is turning seventeen tomorrow, so there are a lot of good fall memories in my family.
Seriously. I am what you call a "fall guy". The period between late September and early December is probably my favourite time of year. Ever.
Summer's okay, but it's actually my least favourite of the four seasons if for no other reason than the fact that I am NOT a fan of intense heat. Seriously, I probably perspire enough on a summer day to fill up an empty bottle of water at least a quarter of the way up. It's not a pretty sight. In fact, it's probably one of the main reasons why I don't like summer as much as most other people probably do. Sure, the sun is out, and there's lots of fun stuff to get done, but at the same time the humidity does not work well with me. When I worked seasonal this past summer, it wasn't uncommon for my entire shirt to be soaked with sweat every single shift. I do wish I was born with the genetics that prevented me from sweating so much, but alas, it was not meant to be.
I'm okay with Spring in some ways. Spring temperatures are a lot like fall temperatures. And, my birthday just happens to be during the Spring, so that's another plus.
The big minuses of Spring? The rain. Lots and lots of rain! And pollen. Lots and lots of pollen.
Did I mention that I have a severe allergy to tree pollen? This means that you can usually find me blowing my schnozz into an entire box of Kleenex between the months of March and June. Yeah, I'm okay with Spring, but I am not in love with it.
Surprisingly enough, I don't mind Winter all that much. I guess if I have but one complaint about Winter, it's that sometimes we get massive snowfalls which can cause massive headaches for both motorists and pedestrians. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've almost gotten run over in supermarket parking lots because a driver almost hit me while trying to drive in the snow. But as far as temperatures go, they don't bother me at all.
After all, I DID work in a department for several years where the temperature hovered around the freezing mark every single day.
But I have to be the first one to admit that I have a soft spot for fall. There's just so much about fall that I absolutely love.
For instance, some of my favourite holidays happen to be within the autumn season. Thanksgiving is one of my favourite holidays because you reflect back on all that you have, and try to find some gratitude in everything in your life. Granted, this can be somewhat of a challenge for some people, but if anything, it's a good opportunity to be thankful for eating roast turkey, baked ham, pumpkin pie (though I'm more of a cake person), and other seasonal favourites that you can only have once or twice a year.
I've also been a fan of Halloween as well, and I was definitely the kid who would start trick-or-treating at five in the afternoon and stay out until almost ten. How often was it that the people in your neighbourhood would dole out free candy to any child who came around? Not very. I also have a love for scary (not to be confused with gory) movies. I could literally watch any Stephen King movie adaptation, Alfred Hitchcock classic, or even It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown over and over again!
(In fact, stay tuned to this blog for the month of October, as I have an entire month filled with spooky scary topics! You won't want to miss it!)
Fall is also a great time to kick back and watch television. During the last two weeks of September and the first week of October, we would be able to watch all new episodes of all of our favourite shows. September is typically when television series would debut their brand new seasons (well, with the exceptions of "Dexter" and "Breaking Bad", which saw (or will see) September series finales. I remember being a kid looking through the TV Guide around this time of year, wondering how all of my favourite television shows would kick off their brand new seasons.
And the second Saturday in September was always reserved for television viewing. There was no way that I was missing the brand new Saturday morning cartoon line-up for the world!
What else is grand about fall? Fall is the time of year in which farmer's markets and festivals are always seemingly at their height in popularity. Fall brings forth lots of craft shows, pie-baking festivals, hay rides, and ghost walks. I also hear that fall is a perfect time to host a murder mystery dinner theatre...and as you might know, one of the things on my bucket list is to attend one of these events.
And what little kid didn't love running through piles of fallen leaves in the backyard? Of course, the parents probably didn't appreciate their children throwing leaves all around after they spent the last two hours raking them all up...but again, to that I state that it is a rite of passage to throw leaves up in the air and make leaf angels. I still remember countless art projects where we would grab the biggest leaf we could find, glue it onto a piece of construction paper, and turn the leaf into something else.
I have to say that I made the best looking leaf ladybug that anyone had ever seen. I was just lucky that my elementary school playground had a lot of trees nearby.
I guess if there was only one thing I didn't like about fall, it was the fact that I had to go back to school and face all of the people who used to make fun of me in the playground. But that was many years ago, and I never have to see those people again if I choose not to! Everything's gravy, baby!
So, that's my little essay on my favourite time of year. I am a "fall guy", and make no apologies for it.
Now I turn the page over to let you have a turn.
What is your favourite season?
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