Today officially marks the first day of Fall, the wonderful third season where the leaves change colors and fall to the ground, where rainy days are ever approaching, where the morning air gets crisper and the evenings require a jacket. Well, all of this is true if you live in the right region. Otherwise, enjoy your lack of seasons!
I love Fall. I love seasons in general but this one is easily my favorite. The days are warm enough that you can get by wearing a long sleeve shirt (or, my personal favorite, a hoodie) while in the evenings you get to put on something that’s potentially a bit more stylish. For example, I’ve got a leather jacket that I am just dying to put on with regular frequency. Then there are the rainstorms where I stay inside, looking out a window while drinking a cup of tea. On particularly chilly evenings, I wrap myself in a blanket (you know, those really soft ones that you get at Target or some place like that) and read a book or watch a spooky movie. It’s basically the season where I feel the most comfortable and at home.
I know that for many of my friends, the arrival of Fall is a turning point, a catalyst for them to activate several events so as to fully enjoy the season. That got me thinking that I’d like to know about you all, to know what you like to do when Fall hits. Maybe you have a yearly ritual? Maybe there’s something that you have been wanting to do for a while and this is the year you actually make it happen. Who knows? Not me and I want that to change.
Below are several examples of things I like to do during Fall. After you’re done reading through them, tell me some of your favorite activities in the comments!
Go to a cider mill
For me, one of the big moments that signifies the arrival of Fall is going to a cider mill and getting warm, fresh doughnuts with a cup of hot, spiced apple cider. I go to the Dexter Cider Mill because it’s become somewhat of a ritual. Also, the drive there is absolutely gorgeous because I take the road that has a river on the right and a forest on the left. It’s absolutely idyllic, stunningly picturesque, and I get to witness the various colors of leaves firsthand as they shift from gold to red to orange to brown.
Start planning my Halloween
My Halloween parties are actually rather mild. I’m not one for having a ton of people over, loud music, a gigantic bowl of spiked punch with “floating eyes” and all that jazz. I’d much rather have a few people over, make some good food, open up a bottle or two of wine, and watch a couple of horror films. Oh, and I’ll have a bowl of candy for the various trick or treaters that come around.
As tame as this might sound, I really enjoy it because the Halloween atmosphere gives this event a certain quality that is missing from the rest of the year. There is an understanding that we want to be creeped out by the movies, that we want to enjoy and relish all things horror. Sure, we can do that any other night but this night is different and we all know it.
Start decorating
How cool is it to walk into your local grocery store and see the Halloween display laid out across several shelves? Witchy candles, antiqued (plastic) cauldrons, jack-o-lanterns with light-up eyes, bags of cobwebs, and more all signify that the next big holiday we’re all focused on is the creepiest night of the year. As for me, I always wait until November 1st when everything is on sale and then I stock up for next year.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have a stockpile of things ready for this year. And while I could talk about all the weird things I hang up or bring out of my kitchen, I want to talk about a new toy I recently got that I’m absolutely in love with.
Allow me to introduce to you the AtmosFX Holiday Digital Decorating Kit. Now, before I go into what it does, let me tell you about the company and what they do. Hopefully you’ve read my interview with Mike Dougherty, director of Trick ‘r Treat, who brought Sam back to life for AtmosFX? In short, the company makes digital decorations that you can play on your TV or run through a projector to blast on your wall or windows to make it seem like your place is haunted.
For many people, a projector is expensive and doesn’t seem worth the money. That’s precisely what I thought until I got my hands on this bundle, which includes a small, lightweight projector that has built-in speakers, tripod, remote control, and a window projection sheet that I can tape to my windows and broadcast the images onto. People, I was blown away. The menu system is kinda unintuitive and it’s a bit frustrating to get things up and running but once you do the appearance is just fantastic! I projected some ghosts and skeletons onto my window, went outside, and it looked AWESOME!
To be completely transparent, I was sent one of these units from AtmosFX but I promise you that my words are 100% honest. I love this kit, even though I wish the menu system was structured better, and I can’t wait to use it this Halloween season!
Go outside more
I don’t like going outside in the summer. I’m just not a person who enjoys being in a lot of heat. But when it’s Spring or Fall, I love going out into the real world. For Fall, there’s a certain smell in the air and a certain crackly feel to the wind that can’t be experienced when I’m inside. That’s why I like to go on long walks around my neighborhood and just soak in the season, cherishing every chilly moment.
Watch more horror movies
Look, I already watch a lot of horror movies on a regular basis. But many of those are watched because I have to. Either I’m writing a review or I’m doing an interview or I need to know about the movie so I can cover it fairly. But during Fall I like to watch horror movies just to have fun. I revisit many classics, like going through a John Carpenter marathon, or I go for a theme, such as the Universal Movie Monsters. Whatever it is, it’s always done by the seat of my pants, giving me the chance to enjoy horror the way I want to experience it.
Alright, those are some of the things that I do to really get in the Fall, and Halloween, mood. What about you? How do you usher in this season?
