Cozying up to fall

[pegkerr]

I have been talking with Kij a bit about my nervousness about facing autumn. I had an extraordinarily difficult time last winter with the depression, which I think was at least partially seasonally-affected. So when I see the days grow shorter, it is hard not to think, uh oh. And start cringing a little bit in anticipation--even if I don't feel depressed at this point yet.

But this is shaping up to be really a beautiful autumn. And it occurred to me that I could try to change my thinking about autumn, framing it in my mind not as a season to be dreaded, but as a cozy time, a time to pull on my favorite soft cashmere shawl and pamper myself. What is cozy about autumn? What do I like about it?

Cuddling up in my cashmere shawl
Driving to look at changing leaves (I think we should schedule one, maybe with a visit to some apple orchards)
Hot mulled wine
Hot tea, with scones and all the trimmings. We could go to Cafe Latte for this
Bag End Seed Cake
The Red Wing Fall Festival of the Arts--perhaps Rob could get a day or two off and we could go?
Replacing the broken string of fairy lights in my office, so it is lit by a soft glow at night--very lovely
Fall baking (something tasty AND low-cal? Is this possible?)
Shopping for new boots--needed!
Going to a bead store with the girls, where we all make fall-themed necklaces
Pull out the Halloween decorations, to be followed by Thanksgiving decorations

What do you like to do that feels particularly cozy to you in the autumn?

Comments

[naomikritzer]

I have never been a fan of winter, but Molly absolutely loves fall. It's the season of her birthday and of Halloween, two of her favorite events of the year. It's hard not to catch her enthusiasm.

Fall rituals in our house include a trip to the apple orchard to pick apples. (We went last Saturday, and came home loaded with apples, cider, apple butter, etc.) Molly suggested a Nature Walk on Monday afternoon, after which she and Kiera made "nature pictures" (collages of the leaves and other things they found), which I need to find a good place to display. We carve jack o'lanterns and roast their seeds. I usually make pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins at least once -- not exactly low-cal, but it's got a vegetable in it so I can pretend it's healthy. We get out the hot chocolate; the girls both have special, very small mugs to drink it out of.

My parents' house doesn't have combination storm/screen windows, so one of their big fall rituals is to spend an entire weekend switching over from screens to storms. They pull down the storm windows from their storage place in the rafters of the garage, clean them, then put them in. I'm glad I don't have to engage in this ritual (egads, it's a lot of work), but the plus side is that their windows are always very clean for winter, which means more light.

My parents also have window warmers (kind of a hybrid between a roman shade, and a quilt) and one of the fall/winter coziness rituals is that all the window warmers are lowered at night, and then the wood clips are secured around the sides. It makes their house seem very cozy.