Every year, between the months of September and November, I rediscover my love for fall. I spent the first eighteen years of my life in Edmonton, a place where there are really only two seasons: summer and winter. Fall exists for maybe one week in October, but then the leaves are gone and there’s frost on the ground already. There was never a Halloween without snow boots and winter jackets worn over costumes in -20 degrees weather back home. But here, it’s different—manageable, even. Seeing leaves still on the trees in November feels wrong, almost like some kind of sorcery is still keeping everything together. I keep catching myself wondering where the snow is, because my brain insists that it should be here already. There are so many little things I’ve come to enjoy about this season that I wish could last all year.
One of the things that I love the most about this season is how it changed my walks to school. There’s something truly different about opening the front door to the fresh cold breeze of fall; when the feeling of the early morning mixes with the scent of wet leaves and spice. Walking to school in lanes lined with multi-coloured trees of red, orange and yellow, breathing in that cool air that somehow just feels right. Especially when there’s picturesque raindrops set along a multicolour backdrop. It almost feels cinematic. In rain or shine, the scenery is beautiful and I can’t help but hope it could last forever.Â
To me, fall is a season of reflection. I’ve thought a lot about myself this fall—sometimes willingly, sometimes not—and if I had to capture this 2025 season in a single emotion, it would be fear. A fear of living on my own for the first time, of having to learn new things at my new job, and of people judging me for asking stupid questions that I should already know the answer to. But beneath that fear, I truly hope that in some sense I was growing—learning from my mistakes, taking risks and changing with the seasons. I do believe this fall was one of the most impactful and memorable parts of my life thus far and I hope this sets the stage for more growth in the months to come. There have been ups and downs this fall, there have been twists and turns and setbacks and many existential crises, but in the end, I just hope to keep moving forward.
In the end, fall is temporary—a brief moment between the heat of summer and the freezing cold of winter. That fleetingness is what gives it its charm. The trees, the breeze, the scenery. It won’t be like this forever. It could be gone tomorrow for all I know. So I’ll soak up the last bit of sunshine while I can, before I have to dig through my closet for my winter coat and snow boots, and take the crowded bus to school just to escape the freezing weather.
Goodbye fall. I’ll see you around next year.