Linda Ford

There are four seasons. Normally we think spring, summer, fall and winter. However, in Alberta, we do it differently. We do winter, still winter, not quite winter (blink) and almost winter. It is almost the end of the month of Snowtember. And yes, there is snow. How fair is that? Fall, my favorite season, lasted 90 seconds and I missed most of it because I blinked.

The snow won’t last. But we are definitely in the season of almost winter. Am I ready? Not emotionally or physically. There are tools out in the garden to store, bushes to prune, flower beds to clean up. Emotionally, I missed fall.
However, there is no point in letting the weather dictate my mood. Life is too short for that. So I am settling in for winter. I have bought the entire 6-season collection of Downton Abbey. No, I haven’t watched any of it yet so I want to catch up. And I am beginning a new story. Writing is a good way to spend the winter days.
How do you enjoy winter? Crafts, jig-saw puzzles, and of course, for many of snow-bound folks, they head south to warmer climes.

Although not officially autumn until Sept. 23, I feel like the season is upon us. School has resumed. The garden is past its prime and the leaves are yellowing. It is my favorite time of year when things slow down and I actually have time to enjoy nature and the cool evenings. I don’t have to do much Googling to learn I am not alone in my fondness for the season.
William Cullen Bryant
“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.”
Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s
“Aprils have never meant much to me, autumns seem that season of beginning, spring.”
It is a time of fleeting beauty. I plan to do my best to enjoy it.
What is your favorite season and why?
 
 

There’s an old Nat King Cole song ‘Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO8i7c5MMEE
I don’t know where old Nat lived or what he did to earn a living (besides sing some beautiful songs) but lazy does not fit in my summer. There’s the garden, the flowers to weed, the vegetables to pick. There’s family to visit or to visit me. There’s grandkids to entertain. There’s hot when I can’t turn on the oven to cook. Even the thought of turning on the stove seems a bit much. There’s rain with mud–outside and inside.
I know part of the reason summer is so insanely busy is because we feel the need to pack in everything we can before bad weather, bad roads and the claws of winter make it really difficult. I want to go all the places that I can’t in the winter including museums. So far in July I and one or two grandchildren have gone to two museums and I’m planning to take in a few more.
The first we visited was the Sundre Museum. Lots of interesting artifacts and a few buildings. The log house was quite an eye opener for a grandchild.

I remember my mother having a big bread mixing bowl like the one in the picture on the top and I can remember having to learn to draw the Union Jack.
Our next stop was Carstairs. I really like this museum because there was a lot of information provided for each item and picture. A great place for research.

They had a nice display of posters used to attract settlers to Western Canada. Belows is one of them.

Yes, the summer might be anything but lazybut there will be lots of memories and lots of pictures for the future–both to go in the family yearbook and to use for research.
How is your summer going? Is it lazy, hazy or screamingly busy?
Whatever it is, make the most of it. The one sure thing about summer is it is short.