by Angela Sanford

Autumn - my favourite season and one to be thoroughly enjoyed in Nova Scotia. As summer fades into fall, the leaves turning crimson and orange. As the scent of pumpkin spice occupies coffee shops and cafes and as we don sweaters to contain inner warmth, it is clear that autumn is upon us once again. It is a season welcomed by those who’ve spent the past few months overcoming allergies, sunburns, and mosquito bites!
Autumn brings a series of questions to mind each year: Where did summer go? Do I need to mow the lawn one more time? What will hurricane season bring? It is also a time of preparation: harvesting crops, securing the winter’s heat source, in our case filling the basement with wood, and putting away the summer toys and decorations.
During our childhood, fall meant a return to school and its routines, anxiously awaiting the weekend, fingers crossed it would be fair weather and maybe even a warm afternoon. In recent years, that anticipated day of “extended summer” is now a hope for a week or even a month of lingering temperatures in the low to mid twenties, when a pleasant game of golf, baseball, or fishing venture is warranted; where one feels almost rebellious in ignoring the autumn’s chores to bask in the glory of fine weather – though we also pray that we don’t pay for the sunny days in the coming winter months. Autumn’s cool, crisp mornings mean tapping defrost to clear the windshield, settling into heated seats to cut the chill, yet pushing the no jacket season just a few days more.
Canning is complete for the year and farm markets are becoming craft markets in anticipation of the holiday season fast approaching. Evening bonfires, when permissible, provide heat, not than just light and ambience, as the daylight hours diminish rapidly before our eyes.
As much as spring sparks revival and fresh outlooks, autumn dances with nostalgia for me – memories of Gram sitting in the window as I walked home from the bus stop, family dinners, weekends at the camp with the boys, watching deer grazing in the fields. Not only is fall my favourite for these reasons but the vibrant golds, oranges, and reds symbolize the warmth of the season while I snuggle under a cozy blanket with a good book and a steamy beverage – an opportunity to reflect on the year to date and to ground myself in the expectation of happiness and fond memories.
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