As a child, the yellowing leaves on trees signified an exciting transition to a new and excellent season.
Autumn meant Halloween, which in itself contains a multitude of fun things: home-made costumes, free candy, classroom parties, free candy, crafts, candy, pumpkin carving and all the candy you could dream of.
It also meant the ultimate satisfaction in walking to school: stepping on crunchy leaves.
As I got older, the excitement of possibilities symbolized by autumn waned. Pretty soon fall meant mid-terms and all the stress that exam season brings on.
Then, when I was finished with school for good, fall meant more like the shortening of the days, the chilling of the air, and the beginning of the long, cruel winter.
But rather than looking at autumn as a shoulder season before winter, I prefer to take it in for its own merits: the beauty of the colourful leaves, the still-warm sunshine in the mid-afternoon, and gloriously glove-free hands.
If I do look ahead to winter, it’s a bit easier on this side of Christmas to anticipate all the lovely things that the season brings.
The first snowfall is always beautiful, though I wouldn’t care to be caught in it on any highways around here.
This year, there will also be an outdoor ice rink at Central Park for everyone to enjoy, which I’ll be sure to check out.
The beginning of winter also signifies the wind-up to Christmas, which is always a jolly time.
About a month before the actual holiday, Merritt becomes a hotspot of Christmas cheer with the Country Christmas event.
This year, the parade takes place on Friday, Nov. 28 beginning at 7 p.m.
Applications for businesses and groups to enter their floats in the parade are available at the chamber of commerce office at city hall and at Carrie Ware and Company on Quilchena Avenue. They are also available for download at merrittchamber.com
After the parade, the Country Music Hall of Fame on Quilchena Avenue will host Santa Land, which will continue all day on Saturday.
Santa Land will also feature a new addition to the festivities this year: the festival of trees, which will be relocated from city hall. Groups, businesses, classes and daycares are invited to decorate their own Christmas tree at the hall of honour over that week.
As the leaves continue to fall and the town turns more grey — and eventually white under a blanket of snow — it’s time to look on the bright side and forget about dry skin, cold feet and runny noses and embrace the beauty of the lead-in to the holidays.
