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Bring on sweater weather — I’m ready

You’ve got to love ‘sweater weather,’ that perfect time of year when the cosmos align to bring us the perfect combination of a cool breeze whispering of frost ahead, but still warm with just enough lingering rays of sunlight before nature on this side of the hemisphere slips into its winter slumber.
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You’ve got to love ‘sweater weather,’ that perfect time of year when the cosmos align to bring us the perfect combination of a cool breeze whispering of frost ahead, but still warm with just enough lingering rays of sunlight before nature on this side of the hemisphere slips into its winter slumber.

Fall is by far my favourite season — it’s that sweet spot between too hot and too cold, when it’s perfectly normal to wear shorts with a hoodie and sandals. That’s Canada for you, eh?

Layering is my comfort zone, where it’s cool and dewey enough in the morning to justify an oversized, cozy sweater that can be removed in the afternoon when things heat up.

There’s nothing quite as good as curling up in a fluffy sweater with a blanket, and maybe reading a favourite book with a hot beverage for good measure.

And you can’t beat the autumn colours. When I was a full-time photographer, fall was my busiest time of year for family photos, as everyone wanted to make the best of the vibrant hues gifted to us by falling leaves.

Fall also has the best holidays. Halloween and Thanksgiving are probably the most low-key, low-stress and highest return-on-fun of the western annual celebrations, except for maybe Easter (unless you’re the one cooking Thanksgiving dinner!)

What’s better than a holiday where you can dress up as whatever you want, carve scary faces in pumpkins and get free candy? Or an excuse to eat your fill of turkey and mashed potatoes? Working it off is a News Year’s problem …

And sure, winter has it’s perks with tobogganing and ice skating, and making snow men when that first perfect, sticky snowfall comes. And spring is nice, I guess, but is a bit flashy and smug for my taste with it’s whole ‘renewal of life’ thing. Spring is mainly a harbinger of sweltering heat and swarms of mosquitoes to come, really.

Whatever your favourite season is, there is a certain comfort that can be found in the knowledge that it will come. Sure, weather in Alberta can be unpredictable, and changing weather patterns can have devastating affects, but winter, spring, summer, and fall will come — eventually. They may be late, out of order, or fleeting, but they come.

Whatever turmoil is currently happening in the world, we can take collective comfort in the fact that time marches on and this too shall pass. As a human race, we’ve faced a variety of daunting challenges over the last year-and-a-half.

Some have called those challenges ‘unprecedented’ but history tells a different story. The world has gone through the unfathomable before and come out the other side and life goes on. I was reminded recently that although things may seem worse than ever before, all these issues are things we have confronted before — whether it’s political, social or economic, it’s all cyclical. It’s about seasons of time.

The world burns in rage and war in the furnace of late summer, declines and cools in fall, rests and builds strength in winter and renews in hope and purpose in spring, leading to a golden age of peace before climbing too close to the sun and the process starts again.

I recently re-discovered the soothing, beneficial effects of listening to music. The lyrics of a couple of songs in particular have brought me comfort: “Just because everything’s changing, doesn’t mean it’s never been this way before,” (The Call, Regina Spektor) and “Tell me that the world’s been spinning since the beginning and everything will be alright” (Cover Me in Sunshine, Pink and Willow Sage Hart).

So although there are many concerns for the human race everywhere you look, for now, I’m going to enjoy what fall brings to my senses, and make the most of sweaters being fashionably acceptable and look forward to savouring the new book coming out in a few weeks from my favourite author Kristen Britain.



Emily Jaycox

About the Author: Emily Jaycox

I’m Emily Jaycox, the editor of Ponoka News and the Bashaw Star. I’ve lived in Ponoka since 2015 and have over seven years of experience working as a journalist in central Alberta communities.
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