Friday fact: I
am not good at favorites.
I’ve been this
way my whole life, or at least as far as I could remember. The fear that some
inanimate object or even a concept might be hurt by my lack of enthusiasm for
it has at some points in my life been almost crippling. I have grown out of the habit of making sure
all my stuffed animals and toys were given equal attention for the fear of
hurting their feelings, but I still really struggle with picking favorites.
Part because indecisiveness is something I’ve practiced to perfection (Proof: I
still have not picked out what national costume I want for my confirmation,
which happen to have taken place 10 years ago.) Part because the top places
changes a lot depending on my mood and time of the month. And part because I
don’t want to make any of my favorites feel inadequate.
Anyways, fall
is here and it’s all sorts of wonderful. Norwegian falls are great, but since we’re
so far north, they are long, cold, wet, and dark, but the leaves only stay up
for a few weeks. Michigan autumns on the other hand…
My top five
“Things I Miss about the Michigan Fall” (RANDOM order, mind you)
- Pumpkin spiced latte
Haha, just kidding. That syrupy mess
can stay far away from my mouth. Unless it’s a home-made-from-organic-and-fair-trade-ingredients
pumpkin spice carefully mixed with a soy latte, espresso brewed on locally
roasted beans. Then I’m all over it.
- The colors
The wonderful colors of the changing
leaves in the Keweenaw are something everyone should see. Piles of colorful
leaves = so many joys: You can run through them, jump on the crunchy ones, make
fall angels in them. Just make sure you remove all bits and pieces stuck to you
before your next class. Also, sometimes they contain a secret surprise of dog
poo. Which is why making angels in the leaves is an extreme sport that should
probably not be exercised right before a lecture.
- Apple orchards.
We used to go apple picking at farms
when I was little, but that was more of a practical thing to get good apples.
We had none of the fancy,-smanchy horse and wagon trips or petting zoos or hay
jumping. It looked less like an amusement park and more child labour (give it a
rest, spell check. I don’t care how long I’ve been in the States; this is how
it’s supposed to be written.) And however fun you might think you’re having
while tricked by your parents for manual labor, I seriously doubt it’s as fun
as petting terrified bunnies while munchin’ on cinnamon donuts. My one and only
trip to an Apple Orchard was really nice, but cut a little short because
someone managed to spill all their apple cider in their lap. Since my laptop
was stolen before I had the wits to save this picture to my external hard
drive, this video gives you an idea of how it looked like. Although I love the
honesty of children, it seems to lose its charm when directed at you: “Look
Mommy, that lady pee-peed her pants!” Because that is what ladies do,
sweetie.
- Caramel apples
The FBF’s grandmother made the most
amazing caramel apples and the recipe was super-secret. As in “You may get it
if you marry into the family, but you might have to provide a couple of
children first”-secret. Which would be totally worth it, btw.
Come to think of it, anything
caramel reminds me of fall and I would decorate my face with it without
hesitation. Popcorn: yes please! Brownies: um, yeah! Cookies: hurrah! (I have recipes for the two latter
ones, I’ll probably post one while I’m at a poop-conference next week.)
- New classes
A fresh start with new people that
have never heard your stomach demonstrate the mating call of the moose during
exams. (Apropos nothing, what is the plural here? Mooses, mees, moose? One
moose, two moose, red moose, blue moose? Moose it is, thanks Dr. Seuss!) That
cute guy that has yet to see your 8 am look where you channel your inner ghoul.
The teacher that still thinks you’re somewhat intelligent. A new beginning
filled with doomed promises of doing all the readings and never procrastinate.
- Halloween
So much candy! Carving pumpkins!
Candy! Spooky decorations! More candy! The thing is that this is not a
holiday I grew up with. So all the excitement you Americans felt as children, I
felt my first fall in MI. For example, I carved a pumpkin and it was wonderful:
(Imagine apicture of that pumpkin, which would be
here if I could just find my hard drive)
So, if you
made it through all of that, I salute you. Now, if you can guess my favorite
f-word (at least of the day), I will make sure you get salted caramel brownies
to your door.
Happy Friday,
