Actually, the weather today was pretty miserable–cooler than normal and heavy rain. But I don’t care, because it’s spring! The second-best season of the year!
Have a dancing duck to celebrate (captured on camera at Reifel Bird Sanctuary yesterday, when the weather was much more spring-like than today):
A lot of people declare fall as their favorite season. I declare them selective in their seasonal fandom!
Here’s how I see fall. It’s not one season, it’s really three:
I also contend that winter is pretty much winter:
I may expand on this in…two months.
The season, not like falling down the stairs or something.
The days get shorter And the trees explode with color Then everything dies
On the one hand, the last line is rather bleak. On the other, fall ends on December 20th and by then the sun sets at something like 3 p.m., it’s always cold and almost always raining, the trees are stripped naked and vegetation is all withered, dead or gone.
But lawns still look really lush and green.
All right, then.
The days get shorter And the trees explode with color It sucks after that
More accurate now. But fine, here’s a “happy” version:
The days get shorter And the trees explode with color Hot cocoa and gloves
I forgot to post.
Yesterday was the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year, and thus my dread enemy. Today, the sun will set very slightly later and before you know it, summer will be here.
The day itself was pretty typical of winters here…damp, cool, but not frozen. And I saw a 10 p.m. showing of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, which I will expand upon in another post.
As for the now-completed Fall 2019, it was…okay. Some thing improved, some stayed the same, some got worse. I will focus on the positive:
The first day of winter is 10 days away, December 21st. This is the shortest day of the year, with approximately 30 minutes of daylight. The bears are warm in their caves, while humans are in full thrall of the whole holiday thing, crushing against each other in malls for last-minute gifts and possibly some nice frozen yogurt at the food court.
I generally don’t like winter because I am not a big fan of the cold and dark. But in the spirit of being positive, here are five things I do like about winter:
Hmm, that’s not really a great list. Let me try a few more:
The obvious theme here seems to be, “Winter is cold, the fun is in finding ways to stay warm.” Some people will argue that it’s easier to get warm than to keep cool, that putting on a sweater will warm you up on a cold day, but taking it off on a hot day may not do much to cool you off on a hot day. This is perhaps true, but given how hot it generally gets here (note to historians reading this in the far future: in late 2019 the metro Vancouver area is not yet a tropical paradise), I don’t find it a big deal to keep from profusely sweating during the summer. And removing layers is somehow better than piling more on.
Anyway, that’s the best I can come up with. To stay positive, we are only 192 days away from summer. Yay!
Specifically, the space heater. Yes, even though it’s still September and less than a week since summer officially ended, I’ve pulled out the space heater and aimed it at my feet because it’s a bit chilly in here.
When I was heading back home around 6 p.m. it actually felt downright cold. I wasn’t even wearing shorts. Right now my watch is telling me it’s 8ºC outside. I just checked and apparently the average low for today is 10ºC , so this isn’t as outrageous as I thought, but still. I think the change from summer to fall hits harder than any other seasonal shift, because it feels so abrupt. One day I’m wearing t-shirts and shorts and people are complaining about how hot it is, then the next day I’m curling up by a space heater and the shorts have returned to the dresser for the next six months.
Okay, my feet are now too warm and the space heater is off. Maybe I just need to put on an itchy wool sweater or something. I promise my next post will not be about the weather. Almost guaranteed!
Today is the first day of fall.
It was unseasonably cool and rained.
I do not approve.
Tomorrow is forecast to be 18 and partly sunny. This I approve.
That is all.
I lied, one more thing: 252 days until Summer 2020. Yay!
The winter solstice was actually yesterday but I was busy entertaining myself troubleshooting browser issues and realizing how little I enjoy spending my time troubleshooting things anymore. Which is not a great thing, since it’s also my living. Oops.
Anyway, yesterday was the shortest day of the year, meaning that today and every other day this year (all nine of ’em) will keep getting delightfully longer. Or to be technical, the sun will set later, giving us a smidgen more daylight.
So although December 21st marks the official start of winter, for me it signals the official countdown to Daylight Saving Time (I advocate switching to this year-round–make it so, government people in charge of clocks or whatever) and the beginning of summer, the best season of all.
I’m already thinking about my first sunburn.
Today it was sunny. But it was also windy. And the wind felt cold.
Now I must truly admit that summer is over. The summer wind doesn’t feel bitter, it feels playful, except when it’s whipping up forest fires that burn down half the province. But still, it’s at the very least pleasant to feel against your skin. The summer wind, not the forest fires.
What I’m saying is I’m glad I wore my hoodie today.
A side effect of taking lots of nature-type photos is I’m paying a lot more attention to seasonal changes, so I’m noticing things like the leaves on trees changing color, or flowers starting to fade and die a lot more than I did before. Some things, like so many chestnuts on a sidewalk it feels like the sound stage of a slapstick comedy, are harder to miss even without my new heightened awareness.
I swear the next post will not be about the weather.
It’s time for a list, specifically an October list! More specifically, several October lists!
What I expect in October:
What I have planned in October:
And that means eggnog has started showing up at Save-On Foods. Fallnog, perhaps.
Also, it just seems weird that a few weeks ago it was 30ºC and now it’s cold enough at nights that drinking hot chocolate is inviting and my little desk fan is gathering dust.
I even started looking at base heaters on the Home Depot website.
The transition from spring to summer, on the other hand, is this teasing, long build-up where the days gradually lengthen and get warmer, flowers bloom, trees bud and blossom, and finally you bask in the verdant green of summer.
Summer to fall is more like admiring the view from the top of a flight of stairs, then someone pushes you down and at the bottom it’s suddenly 15 degrees cooler and everything is turning brown.
And this is why I’m not a poet.
It’s the first day of fall and everything is falling into place (see what I did there?)
Anyway, the trees are already donning their orange, red and yellow coats, the nights are now cool enough to make the air conditioner optional and the opportunity to wear shorts outside when not going out for a run are dwindling.
It’s also raining again semi-regularly.
So it’s very fall-like and now it’s official. And I’m okay with that. Early fall is something like my fourth favorite part of a season, when everything is balanced on the edge between the last days of summer and the first days of autumn, but we are still a ways from the trees being bleakly devoid of leaves, the sky perpetually gray, and the threat of snow becoming all too possible. For the moment it can still be sunny and pleasant, everything is green and splendid and I’m not both leaving for and coming back from work in the dark (it’s now dark, but the sun is still up for over an hour yet when I get home).
If I was a poet I’d write something eloquent about fall, but I ain’t, so you get a haiku:
Fall is in the air
Sun, rain, wind and shorter days
Just say no to snow