I remember my elementary school in New York, P.S.1, used to put on a Halloween parade every year and all of us students would go to school dressed up in costume. My mom would meet my brother, cousin, and myself outside when it came time for the parade. She would walk with us around the block in this little parade to show off our costumes. The sky always had gloomy clouds this time of the year, and there were orange and yellow maple leaves in the gutter. It was absolutely perfect for Halloween.
I'm ready for more cool weather and sweaters and knitting and candles and tea. Bridget made a very good point in one of her recent posts. I love watching shows, no matter how light-hearted the plot lines are, that take place in a small town. I'd love to live in a big city, but I really do see myself settling down in a small town where I will most likely get to know my neighbors, where the leaves fall this time of the year and "get crunchy", where kids can walk to school, where community events go on all through the year, where holiday events are the most beautiful thing and something to look forward to, where shops are owned by families, and where fall happens before the holidays start. It never truly feels like Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas without a chill in the air and wearing sweaters cozied up with tea. My town right now, Winter Park, is not big enough of a city, and not small enough of a town for me. But right now, I'm enjoying it and the holiday events and the community thus far.
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Irony of ironies, your always-warm town is named Winter Park :) I agree, I'm happy to live in a place that truly gets to experience all four distinct seasons. It wouldn't feel like November without boots and scarves and crunchy leaves! xo
ReplyDeletemy grandfather said the same thing about winter park :) this must be the place where the snow birds come for the winter!
Deletei am always longing for somewhere warm, but this month has been so nice (while not exactly warm by my standards, much, much warmer and nicer than usual) i have had a heck of a time getting into halloween this year! so, yes, when the holidays roll around i think it would be hard to live in a warmer climate - especially if you didn't grow up with that. i love small towns too. those movies that have the quintessential small towns, those always get me! luckily portland can feel pretty small when you need it to. xo
ReplyDeleteevery year i attempt to wear boots on christmas day just to make it feel a little like winter without fail, i'm always taking them off because it gets too hot by noon!
DeleteI think Winter Park is actually quite lovely this time of year. I could stand it to be a few degrees cooler myself. I love visiting my friends in Orlando this time of year, it seems SO much more "Fallish" than South Florida. Love you images, as always. Hope your Halloween was fun!
ReplyDeletewinter park is definitely lovely this time of the year - it's actually fall and winter in winter park that led us to move here!
DeleteI'm going through the exact opposite of you right now Yelle! I'm used to wearing short sleeves on Christmas day, and I used to never expect snow. But now I have to wear gloves and double up on my jacket and am constantly praying that the snow will hold off until at least mid November.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help but feel nostalgic and happy and warm when you talked about the holidays from when you were in elementary school. I'm so glad you have those memories. I'm aiming to be more intentional about creating those moments. I generally feel too busy to do fun, festive things but I'm really slowing down this year and want to make sure they happen. Parades, walks in crunchy leaves, quiet warm moments that feel like such a great escape from the cold.
I'm glad you're keeping such a positive attitude about where you're at in life, even if it's not the ideal picture of where you'd like to be. That's not always an easy thing to do.
Happy holidays! We can say that now that it's November, right??
Mel xx
thanks so much and i can agree with everything you've said - especially that we can say happy holidays now! in the office, we've all been listening to christmas music!
DeleteI agree Yelle, sometimes I feel like the time goes by so quickly because we have no way to measure its passing--it's always hot down here! The holidays don't feel the same. I, too, hope to someday live in a small-ish town again, but I'm glad are embracing Winter Park and what it has to offer right now :)
ReplyDeleteone day i know i'll be somewhere else for christmas and will probably want to be in florida just to be with family so i am totally treasuring it now!
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