Tis the season(s)

I am currently scrolling through my recent photos to try to decide what my "theme" is for this blog post will be. There isn't any clear narrative thread, which means there won't be one in this blog post either. You've been warned.

Just like the weather, the past few weeks have felt all over the place, which is definitely reflected in my google photos. I would also say that I have been "all over the place" but being home or in Winnipeg hardly qualifies. Thanks to traveling and global climate change, I have experienced summer, fall and winter within 7 days. It was hot when I left for my work trip, it snowed in Winnipeg (which is way too early even there), and now it's foggy, rainy and fall in Kansas. (Finally).

I actually get semi-annoyed at my Facebook connections who live in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio who constantly post "if you don't like the weather, just wait an hour" scenarios.  I lived in two of those states and, let me tell you, that's not really true. Mid-west weather variances are nothing like the prairie or the mountains. Also, really, let's be real, this is all global climate change. It's not suppose to be like this.  Extremes are the new normal and it's not regional. It's our whole world.

Anyway. this post isn't suppose to be a giant rant about climate change. I am just wading through my google photos. But let's use the seasons to reflect on the past few weeks.

Summer

My garden still thinks its summer because it has finally started producing tomatoes. (Well, the zone we live in has a later growing season, but even within that content my tomatoes are late). This is always the time of year where I am so over my garden. But then it starts providing tomatoes and I think, hmm, well maybe next year I'll try planting tomatoes again. It's a vicious cycle.

I also got a ton of tomatoes and green beans from my co-worker/friend/life guru, Tina. I keep telling her that I will be her first CSA customer. But in the meanwhile, she'll give me all these gems for free. It's ideal, (which complicated the great garden debate in my head. If I get all this stuff from Tina plus what I can get at the famers market, why do I even garden at all? It's unclear).

I was actually brave enough to can 9 pints of green beans. It's been awhile since I've canned anything. I only had to call my mom 3 times to make sure my kitchen wasn't about to explode.

Speaking of kitchen things, I bought a portable dishwasher off of Facebook Marketplace. And it works great. Scout generally is unsure about it although she is getting braver.

don't worry, those dishes in there are dirty

It makes my small kitchen even more crowded, but it has been worth it so far not to have to do dishes multiple times a day, (which is what I had been doing on the weekends when I bake).

My last summer hurrah was with my friend Denise. A few Saturdays ago we went to Wichita to get pedicures before sandal season ended. (We had been talking about this for like the whole year and we finally did it). We ended our outing with a patio dinner at Bella Luna Cafe. 

In this part of the world, my favorite thing about the end of summer (and maybe the only thing since I am usually ready to see the end of it) are the wild sunflowers and grow in the ditches, along creeks and in open fields. When everything looks like it's on the edge of death from a long summer, these beauties spring up with enthusiasm.

Autumn 

When autumn rolls around, I start to roam around town. Meaning, when it cools down somewhat, I start going on walks for my daily physical activity. These walks usually take me to the arboretum where I get to take in more of these tiny sunflowers. It's also fun to exercise while listening to podcasts. My favorite podcast to walk with is actually The Splendid Table, which perhaps makes me sound like an old woman.

This past week, I had to go to Winnipeg for meetings with my Canadian colleagues.

(I ran into 2 of my Central States colleagues in O'Hare who were on their way to PA. So funny).

I went to Canada for our annual meetings, but I went a little bit earlier so I would work in the same space as my team, which meant that we also were able to do some "team building." Since we are a group of introverts, our team building is usually centered around walking and eating something. In my opinion, that is the best team building ever. The first day I was there was actually a nice fall day. Nathan, Emily and I went to "The Forks" which I learned is both a part of a river that forks (duh) but also there are nice walking trails around as well as this cool "food court" area, which is also referred to as "The Forks.  (I had a tasty chicken sandwich at NuBurger). After we had lunch, we went for a brief walk and looked at the various sculptures, plaques, etc that surround the actual river.

In the winter, the Forks freezes over and is quite the hub for ice skating. This is one of the warming huts that is put on the ice for skaters. You actually can get inside of it, but you have to duck underneath it. I had a hard time picturing doing that on ice skates. But then again, I am not a natural born ice skater. 

Compared to the States, Canada has been doing a lot more to recognize Indigenous Peoples, their land, history and the current injustices. It was really refreshing to see this along our walking trail.

  Winter

I had my first taste of 2018 winter the following day. We were sitting in our meetings when it suddenly started snowing. It snowed all afternoon.

I think I told at least a dozen people that when this was happening in Winnipeg it was 31C in Kansas, aka like 88F. NUTS. Neither of this is ideal. But I guess if I had to choose, I think the snow was quite nice. (Don't tell Levent I said that ;-)

A nice part about being in Winnipeg was that I was in the office on Friday, which is the day before their Thanksgiving weekend. Thus, they had an office Thanksgiving potluck. And I ate the best apple crisp I've ever had. YUM.

It was a long week, but it was nice to see my colleagues who I talk with every day on the internet. Emily and I even accidentally matched one day. Go team.

Autumn... Again

Well, I am back in Kansas now. I came home and saw that I had a volunteer sunflower come up (which was a baby from my summer sunflowers).

Also waiting for me at home were my new hiking/winter boots. I got them specifically for Levent and my upcoming trip to Seattle, where we will hopefully be doing some hiking. But more importantly, these shoes are waterproof, which means I am finally prepared for the annual ice storm Kansas eventually gets in the winter. This has been years in the making. For real, all the shoes I wear in the winter are suede because I live in the prairie desert.

Although the weather is always in flux here, it seems that we are finally out of the summer season. It is still unclear how much of a fall we'll get, but I am going to appreciate every minute we get by burrowing under blankets on the couch or with my personal favorite, autumn themed baking. Come on, pumpkin everything! Let's go. After all, 'tis the season(s).

Happy Fall, y'all