First full day of fall... really?

So, yesterday was the first FULL day of Fall, and here in Calgary it was the hottest day of 2009 at 33 degrees. I have never really enjoyed the Fall Season, and last year I didn’t really notice that fall was here until we went to Ontario for Thanksgiving weekend. WOW what a difference! The fall colours here consist of green (evergreens), brown and yellow. Vibrant orange and red in the foliage does not exist! So... it got me to thinking... how is a person to know when fall is if there isn’t the usual colour signs to remind you? The weather here is absolutely no help... it has been mid to high 20's for weeks! In the last four weeks I think there has only been one day of rain (and it was only a few hours of rain). This too is vastly different from an Ontario Fall. The part of fall that I really miss is the small town fairs - especially the New Hamburg Fall Fair. Here, instead of agricultural fairs there are Horse Shows and Rodeos!

I decided to take a good look around and see if I can find some ways to tell that Fall has arrived... I am writing them down so I will know next year :)


1. Starbucks is pushing the uber-delicious pumpkin spice latte (and pumpkin spice muffins, pumpkin spice scones and pumpkin spice cake)!!! YUMMY!
2. The new season of all my favourite shows are starting. Oh, and brand new shows are always previewed in the fall.
3. Kids are all back to school. Yay!
4. When I ask "what do you guys want for dinner" instead of Steak or Chicken on the BBQ I am now taking requests for homemade mac and cheese, pasta casseroles, shepherds pie and apple crisp. Fall = Comfort Food!
5. All the school supplies are now sold out and have been replaced with Halloween candy at Wal Mart. {if you can't bear to think about Christmas DON'T go into a Hallmark Store! The ornaments and decorations are out!}
6. The commercials are starting to advertise toys and video games and movies
7. The mountains are becoming more and more white (so WHY are we camping in the mountains this weekend???)
8. I find myself driving (on auto pilot) to and from Cheer practice. Roxy was asked to be on both Youth and Junior Cheer teams which means double the training for her (double the driving for me). She now trains Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights and four hours on Sundays. If we aren't home we are at the gym...
9. The crop farmers at home grow many different crops... here there is only one crop... WHEAT. And I can see why. The sunny and dry fall weather is just perfect for it; they are just finishing up the final crop harvests now. So passing a few tractors on the road is definitely a good sign of fall.
10. Hockey – Football – Nascar Chase for the cup. Need I say more?



This weekend we are off to the mountains for camping.  I am not sure why we are heading west… Maybe Reg doesn’t remember what happened last time we camped in the mountains in September???? Anyway, I am looking forward to it. Just going to make sure we are prepared this time! So the parka’s, hats and mitts will be packed!  Furnace WORKS and we are fully stocked with warm sleeping bags and hot chocolate.  Bring on the Snow! We are all pretty excited for Casey's first camping trip so should be a great weekend! We are camping with Al and his family so will have lots of kiddies around to play with the puppy! I decided this was a good weekend for campfire chilli so at least the cooking will be easy! I am going to take my camera and work on taking some shots of ‘nature’. I will post pictures when we come back! I will also get some pictures of Casey posted. It is amazing how much she has grown in the last few weeks! Today is her second set of vaccination shots so I am feeling very sad for her… hope it goes okay.