Where I live in the middle of Alberta, the seasons rotate with the efficiency and no-nonsense precision of the changing of the guard by the Grenadier 1st Division Light Infantry at Buckingham Palace.
One of the charms of Canada is how clear and distinct are the four seasons. Winter, like a Christmas card, spring the season of maple syrup production and migrating birds, Summer – camping, swimming, and evenings around the campfire, then autumn or fall, time for those astounding gaudy leaves.
Amazingly, we swish at a dizzy speed from one season to the next, in one day or overnight. At the moment, we are into fall, and as usual, there was no gentle cruise and wafting from summer to fall. Suddenly, it is chilly nights with the temperature freezing or below, the days are short with blue skies and temperatures in the single digits Celsius. There are glorious golden leaves (we don’t get much of the Maple tree reds here).
And spring is the same story; abruptly, there she is! When I first moved to Edmonton, I was amazed at the changing of the winter-spring seasonal guard. From one day to the next, guys would be wearing shorts! How did they manage this, so nimble, so quick? How did they access their spring wear with such alacrity? When I queried this important issue, I was met with a bewildered look and told that people don’t actually put away their off-season clothing around here. Oh, shock and my world-view turned upside down!
Having spent years of my girlhood in an English boarding school with distinct summer and winter uniforms, it has been drilled into me, that, come the appropriate moment, the other-season clothes were to be laundered, mended if necessary, and carefully placed in a trunk.
And this is what I still do; the trunk is now a chest of draws in the basement, not that conveniently accessible. This operation at the time of the seasonal switch takes time. I really appreciate a long weekend for this ritual.
Bur local customs intrude, the rot sets in, the years advance, and the kids move out and voilà! Free space is available in closets on the second floor! Yes, dear reader, now some of the clothing gets to stay above ground level! Laundered and mended, of course!
And by the way, much as I marvel at all those who embrace and market the ‘reduce and eliminate’ movement and want us to pare down our wardrobes, that does not work well here. You need different clothing for our wide range of temperatures and conditions. Tempting as it might be on a hot summer day to send one of your three winter coats to a charity shop. Don’t! Ditto for the boots!
This year our fall is still going strong; it is lovely, with the low sun slanting in and lighting up areas of the kitchen seldom noticed, and no snow yet and it is Halloween. I am not getting carried away, this is no mock summer. In this time of chilly evenings, I know that the freezing nights will come. (If you have snow-in-Canada expectations at the moment, off you go to the mountains!)
There are changes in the climate. Climate change is real. Here, this year we need more rain and moisture. I worry and fret about this. I ardently desire and wish all the participants in the Glasgow COP26* conference creativity, compassion, to work with extreme cooperation and to go boldly with vision and action for our planet.
*I was puzzled by the name COP26. I see it means the Conference of the Parties, and it is the 26th one the UN has organized as part of their climate change convention.