Fall presents us with many different faces so that we don’t have to think about what the following months will bring.   It comes in with the beginning of the glorious colours that we look forward to each year.  By the end of the month many of the trees are clothed in only fall colours.  At some point, they start to shed their leaves often with the help of the wind.  This is something I have a problem with.  We don’t have any trees that shed their leaves.  Most of our trees have the good sense not to shed because they are deciduous. The various bushes are in the backyard and that is where their leaves stay, not bothering the neighbours.

Up and down the street, trees shed their leaves.  Do the leaves stay on the lawn where the trees are?  No a little bit of a breeze and they have the travel bug.  And where do they go?  To the lawns of those who don’t have trees!  It seems to me that those who have the trees should travel up and down the street and gather up their own leaves.  I don’t think I will get much support for this.

The month has barely started and we celebrate Thanksgiving.  This is a wonderful family time when we get to enjoy the harvest from our own gardens or the wonderful array of veggies to be found at the Farmer’s Markets.  We get to spend time with family and friends without the frantic rush that Christmas often presents.  It’s also a chance for new family members to get to know the rest of the family.

Early fall is when I usually bring in my geraniums and a few herbs for the winter. As I find places in the windows for them I immediately begin to dream of next May when I will be moving them back outside again!  They are old friends, they have been moving in and out for more years than I can count.  They bloom off and on over the winter.  There’s nothing nicer than seeing their red and pink blooms with the snow blowing past the window.  (Not that I’m looking forward to the snow)

By this time of the year, everyone has settled back into their routines.  Meetings have started up again.  When my son was young, soccer gave way to hockey.  School routines are in full swing and there’s a feeling of everything is right with the world.

October was a month for family birthdays for us.  It used to start with Mam’s birthday on October 19.  Followed by the 25, 26 and 27.  New family members have October birthdays too.  When my son and his wife were expecting my grandson towards the end of October, my sister told them ‘no more October birthdays’.  My grandson was born on November 1 fourteen years ago.

The end of the month brings Halloween (which the stores start celebrating even before back to school deals are complete).  Some people do all sorts of Halloween displays, the kind that used to be done for Christmas.  I’m in the get out the plastic pumpkin and plug it in for a day or two group!  Selecting what to give out isn’t easy.  If I get something I like (chocolates that don’t have nuts) I’m left with the dilemma of how quickly I’ll eat them.  If I get something that I don’t really like, I have to figure out what to do with what is left over.  When I taught in school, I could take stuff and put it in the middle of the staff room table.  It would usually be gone in no time.  This year I’m gave out little bags of chips.  Nice and easy, most kids like them and they aren’t heavy to carry.

A few days ago, I read that the Whitby Dunlop’s are getting less than a hundred people at their games.  I hope that the article in the paper gets people thinking about our local team.  In 1958 the Whitby Dunlop’s were World champions.  I believe it was Russia that they beat.  My family moved to Whitby in1960, and it was some time not long after that the Dunlop’s played an exhibition game that my Dad and I went to.  It was in the old arena where the LCBO on Brock now is.  Maybe think about taking some family members to see them play this season.

Enjoy the remainder of all, as winter is waiting on our doorsteps.

 

About the Author

Linda Calder is a retired teacher. She likes to write and enjoys spending time with her family. She also enjoys going on cruises, taking pictures and scrapbooking.