View from the Cheap Seats is kind of an extension of the newsroom. Whenever our three regular reporters, Calvin Daniels, Thom Barker and Randy Brenzen are in the building together, it is frequently a site of heated debate. This week: What is your favourite thing about Saskatchewan in the Fall?
During the summer we decided we would do one of these for each season. At that time, I said I love everything about Saskatchewan summers.
Spoiler alert: That’s what I am going to say about every season. In my 52 years, if there is one thing I have learned, it is that life is too short not to make the best of whatever situation you find yourself in, or if you can’t to move on to a different circumstance.
As for fall in Saskatchewan, what’s not to like?
I love the quality of light as the angle of the sun becomes more oblique upon the land, and the dance of shadows it creates.
I love the pungent fragrance of deadfall and fungi mingling with the lingering freshness of late summer blooms.
I love how the forests shed their skin to reveal their bones
I love the crisp coolness of the early morning and the lazy warmth of the late afternoon.
There is a melancholy about the fall that has always appealed to me. Pessimists see decay, I see the promise of renewal.
I may have lied, though, I am not overly fond of fall rain now that I have a giant dog. What a mess.
- Thom Barker
Fall, the most incredible season of them all.
Why you ask?
There are several reasons.
To start the weather has moderated from summer meaning you don’t melt every time you head outdoors to do something.
But the temperatures are still better than what will come next. Yes the lone downside to autumn is that it is the herald of approaching winter.
But until the snow starts to fall you have a season filled with the bounty of another year. The fresh produce from the garden is always a treat.
The smell of pickles being preserved and fruit canned fill many homes.
Farmers are busy taking in another crop.
All the activities are set against the vibrant colours of fall. Green is nice, but the vibrancy or orange, red, and brown trump anything summer can offer up.
Fall also brings with Halloween, a fun holiday which doesn’t drag on for weeks like Christmas ahead, a winter season increasingly mired in argument - although I wish all a happy holiday both Oct. 31 and in December.
Really the only thing about fall not to like is that it is just too fleeting a season. It would be nice if we could enjoy it far longer each year.
- Calvin Daniels
For me Fall, or Autumn if you prefer, is a season with an equal combination of wonderful sights and awful realities.
The wonderful part is, of course, the beautiful colours of the leaves right before they fall to the ground and the fact that hockey – both professional and minor – begins in all its amazing glory.
It’s a season that signals the end of the summer and the beginning of the Halloween and Christmas seasons, which are two of my favourite times of the year (I mean, who doesn’t like an overabundance of candy and presents? Horrible people, that’s who).
However the unfortunate fact is, what I’ve just mentioned is really the only positive parts about this time of year. You see, Autumn also hints at snow and leads into Winter. What that means is, it’s cold, blowing, blustery and all together completely awful.
So when it comes to Autumn we all must take it with a grain of salt.
Or just enjoy the first couple of weeks and jet off somewhere warm until Spring rolls around.
- Randy Brenzen
