Save the Date: The Autumnal Equinox

Thoughts | Lesley Cheung

The time of year we have all not been waiting for is here—the fall season. This year’s autumnal equinox at 3:50 a.m. on September 23 marks the beginning of all the things we dread. The back-breaking labour of raking leaves, smelly leaf decomposition, gloomy weather, shorter days, and school are all among us, and all at once. Quite literally, everything is dying: leaves, daylight, hot weather, and the joy and freedom of summer. While it’s easy to fall (pun intended) into a deep slump during this especially dreary time, fear not my readers. There are many ways to keep in good spirits during the fall time! Here are three things you should take advantage of with the arrival of autumn:

1. Anything and Everything Pumpkin Spice

All your favourite restaurants and food snack brands have started to release their fall menus and products. Fan favourite pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks are back, and all the competitors have followed. Tim Hortons, Second Cup, McDonalds, Krispy Kreme, and Dunkin Donuts all have their rendition of the pumpkin spice latte. If PSLs aren’t your thing (please re-evaluate yourself), don’t fret! All your favourite snacks are pumpkin spice flavoured too. A trip to the grocery store quickly becomes a trip to the pumpkin patch. Pumpkin spice Oreos, Cheerios, Werther’s Originals, Pop Tarts, Frosted Flakes, KitKat, Eggo, Jello, Twinkies, and many more line every shelf. On the stranger side of things, there’s pumpkin spice air fresheners, lip balms, Spam, and vape juice. Whatever else you’re thinking, the answer is yes, there’s probably a pumpkin spice version. With all this, there really is no excuse not to indulge in fall’s best fruit.

From left: Wide Open Eats; Hollis Johnson, Business Insider

2. Sweater Weather

You have been waiting all year to cozy up in your cardigan, flannel, blanket scarf, beanie, and booties, and now you can! No more side-eyes from passersby because it is officially autumn and that calls for knits, shearling, and leather. Not to mention, it is now socially acceptable to wear your Ugg boots, so dig them up from the back of your closets, dust them off, and spray them with their protectant so they’re ready to go. Perhaps the best part of sweater weather is that it means no more worrying about that summer body and having to shave your legs (woohoo). Bye-bye tank tops and shorts, and hello slouchy and oversized silhouettes.

From left: Pinterest; paq.official, Instagram; WhoWhatWear

3. Photoshoots

Take a look around and you’ll see the leaves are changing colour, the sunsets becoming more vivid, and animals scurrying around to find the last scraps of food before a long hibernation. These all provide great photo ops, and that means more pictures to add to your Instagram film account (because posting on your main is so passé). Take this to be an excuse for you to abandon your textbooks and instead venture out into nature. Absorb the allure of the reds, oranges, and yellows and fill your feeds with warm tones—hopefully this can bring some warmth to your spirit too. 

From left: Igor Laptev, BlogTO; Antoine Demé, Flickr