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

[ironymaiden]

i tend to do fall cleaning rather than spring cleaning - i ready the house for us to spend more time inside and be more domestic.
cozy: more hot tea. putting the throw blankets out on the couch. getting fall foods like apple cider from the farmers' market.

on the depression front, i got a dawn simulator this fall. i've been using it for over a week now, and it seems to be helping me get out of bed and makes my mornings less fuzzy.

[carbonel]

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

Scuffing through leaves
(from long ago) Smelling burning leaves
Buying candy for Halloween trick-or-treaters
Pulling out the comfy warm sweaters from winter storage
Curling up in front of a fire in the fireplace (optionally: and watch the new fall TV shows)

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I love piling the extra quilts on the bed and then keeping the windows open so that the house is cool but I'm snuggly under the blankets. I sleep better when it's cooler. Plus, flannel sheets on the bed!

Renting a convertible with my husband and going for a drive in the Shenendoah to see the leaves turn.

Watching the cats grow thick winter coats.

[mayakda.livejournal.com]

warm cider!

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

Warm cider, sipped by the embers of a fire as soft music plays. (Have you ever tried one of those light boxes for treating SAD? I use one, and it's helped.)

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have a light box that I use, too.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Alas, I have no fireplace!

[sternel.livejournal.com]

Corn mazes.
Leaf fights.
Farmstands and apple picking, and then making applesauce.
Squash/pumpkin soups. (If you make it with spices, maybe the girls will give it a try too?)
The smell of the air on autumn mornings: loamy and leafy.
The first night I see Orion (after the Dipper, the first constellation I learned to recognize).

[guipago.livejournal.com]

crunch through and jump in leaves (yes, I still do that :))
make apple crisp
go to Aamodt's
decorate for harvest and halloween
look at leaves changing colors
sneeze less
wheeze less
pick up acorns and pinecones
play outside more
LEAVE THE WINDOWS WIDE OPEN AND GET FRESH AIR!!! ahhhhhhh :)

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

Making applesauce. (6 quarts done so far.) Making tomato et cetera sauce. This year trying pear preserve, maybe to use on meat. Taking pictures of the maples turning red & the beeches yellow with the pines staying GREEN - it's the contrasts. Halloween candy. Sorry, that's not low-cal. A fire in the fireplace, not done in summer, & the aromas it creates. A whole lot of family birthdays and finding cards that are funny but not too nasty.

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking some about a similar topic. If you don't like something and want a change, you can either change the something or change your response.

[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.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

For tasty and low-cal, it's hard to beat baked apples. I put toasted hazelnuts in mine.

I also make a lot more soup in the fall, and a lot more bread. I have a streak of squirrel in me, I think, because I want to fill the pantry and the freezer every fall and empty them every spring. Guinness gingerbread. Squash soup with fried sage leaves. Etc.

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

Caffe Latte. Mmmmmmmmmm.

It's been way too long since I've been there.

Thanks for the reminder (not that I'll get there any time soon, but I like the reminder).

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Guinness gingerbread! May I have the recipe, please??!

[gamps-garret.livejournal.com]

Fall is harvest time, and cooking time, and "warm" time. I take walks through leaves, dig out all of my winter clothes and cozy sweaters, start to crochet again, visit orchards for apples (to make sauce for canning) and pumpkins, play with the dog outdoors, have "brunch" and "afternoon tea" and "supper" to eat on the weekends filled with beautiful fall fruits and vegetables, enjoy the "good" films that pop up in the autumn, go to free "special lectures" at the local colleges, and really enjoy the "freshly shaved legs feeling" when I crawl into bed, as I don't shave as often in the fall and winter. :-)

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Alas!

[mareklamo.livejournal.com]

I second the warm cider! I also like seeing my breath puff out when it gets cold.

[loup_noir]

We fire up the wood stove and hang out around it. We cuddle on the couch and watch football. (Well, he does. I tend to doze.) I bake pies, make apple butter, plot out Christmas and make plans for next year's garden.

I love autumn. Here, it's a great time to plant, because the winter rains keep the plants watered and our winters are mild.

I'd like to work more puzzles, assuming we can find a large enough flat place to lay out all the pieces. Maybe do some embroidery, too. The longer evenings mean less outside time. Idle hands and all that.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Of course.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

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

Soup!

Make soup. Eat soup.

Make stock. Make soup. Eat soup.

Go out to restaurants. Order soup. Eat soup.

For a nice change, make stew, etc. :-)

Out here, it's quite hot in the summer, and soup- and stock-making have all the appeal of bathing in a boiling hot pool of lava.

Suddenly fall arrives, the rains kick in, and it's time for hot liquids!

[nmalfoy.livejournal.com]

I LOVE that little nip in the air you get in fall. I love walking on a crisp day with the smell of woodsmoke in the air. I don't take music. I just walk.

I love coming home on a cold, rainy night and making a mug of jasmine tea and just being all warm and cozy in my flat.

I love the pumpkins and squash and harvest-themed decorations people put out.

I love candy corn.

I LOVE Halloween.

What makes me feel cozy in autumn? Baked apples. Oh yes.

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

What do you like to do that feels particularly cozy to you in the autumn?
* Going for walks in the nearby woods, enjoying the colours of the changing leaves.
* Snuggling up in a comfy chair with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate.
* Gathering chesnuts.
* Making animals or spider webs out of said chesnuts.
* Dressing for it and going for a walk in the rain.
* My two cousins' and my nephew's birthdays.
* My birthday! :-D

[chamisa.livejournal.com]

Smelling the roasting green chile everywhere, buying some and making stew.
Fall baking and cooking.
Making a roaring fire the first night it's cold enough to want one, and reading a book in front of it.
Driving to see the colorful leaves.
Anticipating the first snowfall of the season.
Celebrating my birthday.

[cloudscudding.livejournal.com]

Flannel sheets on the bed
Burning vanilla, spice, or apple pie-scented jar candles
Staring up at orange leaves and bright blue skies
Being able to bake without hating the heat--and taking full advantage of that!
Hot chocolate
The cats becoming all cuddly again--they don't stay sitting long on the laps of people who wear shorts
Wearing flattering sweaters
Coming home to a slightly chilly house, turning the heat on, and feeling it warm up gradually
When sitting at the computer, wearing slippers with microwaveable grain bag inserts that smell like spices and keep my feet toasty-warm
Curling up on couch under blanket and just reading a book for an hour or two

[mayakda.livejournal.com]

Oh, thought of anoterh one -- I'm not very domestic, but I love apple slices microwaved with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar.

[folk.livejournal.com]

Mind if I ask which dawn simulator you bought?

[ironymaiden]

i have a SunRizr attached to a clamp light with a halogen flood. i wanted to get the more adjustable one (the store was out of them that day), but 45 minutes seems to work fine.
i quailed at the cost of the dimmer, but the operation is absolutely smooth and silent. the store i linked to is not far from home for me and offers a 30 day trial period.