Ter
loves the fall so much that if she was a Spice Girl, she’d be Pumpkin Spice.
Me, I
like pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin custard, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin quick
bread (GF, ovvvvv course), and the word itself. If I had a Mini, it would be
Flyer orange with a vanity plate reading “PUMKIN”. As for the perennial autumn favourite,
ye olde pumpkin spice latte/chai/what-have-you, I confess, it’s not the spice
so much as its heralding of the season that brightens my world. Whether I order
one or not, and it’s generally not, I’m always happy to welcome it when it
comes.
So
how was it that I opened my email on August 27 to find advisories from two of
my regular coffee haunts proclaiming the return of the pumpkin spice latte? Make
no mistake. I wanted the end of Summer 2018 more desperately than anyone, but
even then, August 27??? Really, you money-grubbing
corporate giants? You couldn’t wait for the Labour Day weekend before launching
the harvest on a society still preparing for back to school? Even Mother Nature
was in denial about the timing: who wants a warming spice drink when the park bench
is hot beneath your butt and you’re still working on your tan? Surely pumpkin
spice can wait until the first day of autumn!
And
that’s (kind of) my point. The last day of summer, for me, falls not on the
equinox in September, but on August 31. It doesn’t even matter if Labour Day
happens after my birthday; September 1 is the first day of fall.
It
happens almost overnight. Mornings dawn later, cool and crisp, yet the jacket
you must wear to work is flung over your arm on the way home. The sky is a
vibrant, burnished blue. The sun casts golden light on trees suddenly ablaze
with colour. Twilight settles sooner, but gently, accompanied by the first
whiff of wood smoke from neighbourhood chimneys. Apples scent the air where no
apple trees exist – figure that one out! – and suddenly it’s too cold for your
sandals. By the time the equinox arrives around the 22nd, we’re well into the
autumnal groove ... but that groove does not, must not, begin until after
August 31.
I wish I liked the pumpkin-spiced things. I like the fragrance but I can't manage the taste. Sigh. It always makes me feel like the oddball out come Autumn. I DO likey sweaters and scarves though. I used to have a bit of a problem with them too. But, my plaids and animal prints will always stay! And, I'll be wearing my faux-Toms until my toes turn to ice-cubes. That's seasonal denial at its finest! xo
ReplyDeleteOh, Beanie, you are indeed my sister in propinquity. I'm not a fan of the spice, either, though it's not much different from my favourite eggnog spice. Maybe less nutmeg and more cinnamon? As for cool weather garb, this west coast wimp loves her scarves but sweaters are too aptly named.
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