Alberta: The Weather is Good Here in the Fall

Source: Author

Ian Tyson Was Right

There is a Canadian folk song by Ian Tyson called, "Four Strong Winds." You may have heard it because it is somewhat famous. There is a line in the song, "Think I'll go out to Alberta, weather's good there in the fall, I got some friends that I can go to workin' for." Ignoring the grammatical issues with the lyrics, I have to agree with Ian Tyson. The weather is good here in the fall. There are so few songs that mention our province that it was always really cool for me to hear the song. Alberta!

Alberta is beautiful in the fall. There are crunchy leaves underfoot. I remember my father raking up huge piles of leaves for me to play in. But he never seemed very pleased that I would play in them. Why else rake them up, though?

In case you don't know, Alberta is a province of Canada. If you haven't heard of Canada, ummm... Let's assume you have, although a childhood friend moved to Seattle, and was chatting with someone. She mentioned being from Alberta. He had not heard of it. Undeterred, she said, "It's in Canada." He asked where that was. Then she stopped talking to him. I get it. If you are speaking to someone halfway around the world, they might be forgiven for never having heard of Canada, but Seattle is in Washington State, and that literally borders on Canada, so how could he not know about us?

Canada is Probably Bigger Than You Imagine

It's interesting, though, how most people worldwide have difficulty conceptualizing Canada. 9.985 million square km (3.855 square miles). We are the second biggest country by surface area in the world. The first is Russia, by a long shot. Then Canada. Then China. Then the United States of America. Our population is relatively small, though at about 38 million. This makes sense because a lot of Canada is difficult to live in, either because it is not accessible by roads or because it is so cold or both. Many people consider where I live to be insanely cold, and, well, it gets far, far colder "up North," my friends.

Why am I telling you all this? You see, because Canada is so much bigger than most people imagine, when I describe fall, it is not Canadian autumn. There are many different types of Canadian autumns because there are so many regions. I have had international friends say, "I will be in Toronto this year. Shall I visit you?" And I always think a visit would be lovely, but I wonder if they know it means a five hour airplane trip or a 3500km (2175 mile) drive. I have driven it a few times. It's very long, but scenic. Except Saskatchewan. No offense to Saskatchewan. It's lovely, but most of it is flat. So flat. I thought Alberta was flat until I drove through Saskatchewan. And there are virtually no trees there. It surprised me. I think they have some hills and trees in the Southern parts of the province. So it is rumoured.

Fall in Alberta

Alberta has a short fall season, which leads quickly to winter, but it is still quite lovely. There is a special "cold" scent in the air as September comes along. It's hard to explain, but if you live here, you can smell that the weather is changing. The leaves turn yellow. In Ontario, in the Toronto region, they turn many shades of the rainbow, but here, they mainly just turn yellow. Still, it is beautiful.

I love the magic of nature here. Many of the trees are evergreens, but the ones that aren't have leaves that turn yellow and gradually fall from the trees. I think of it as the trees preparing for their long winter's nap. The magic is that, even though it gets very cold (-25 Celsius or -13 F -- that is a NEGATIVE sign) and even colder sometimes in the dead of winter, and even though winter lasts from November to March or even April at times, the preparation the trees do keeps them alive. In the spring they somehow know it is time to make little buds, grow new leaves, and start again. I don't know how the trees do it. How do they stand sentinel out there for half the year, buffeted by the wind and cold, waiting? They bravely weather storms, carry snow and icicles. Yet in the Spring, they are back again.

Conclusion

I love the fall. I love the crunch of the leaves and the magic of nature preparing for its long sleep. I have been amazed by the variety of different autumns across Canada. Here in Alberta, it is very short and yet nature knows exactly what to do. Thanksgiving here is Monday October 11 this year, and I look forward to it as part of our fall ritual. I especially enjoy the pumpkin and apple pie. What can I say? I have a taste for sweets. And life can often be so very sweet. I try to be grateful for every day.

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This is my entry for the weekly Ladies of Hive contest.

I am fairly new to Hive and I don't really know many people. Part of the contest is inviting someone new to join Ladies of Hive. I invite @boryanamtl whose excellent post yesterday about Canada's first Truth and Reconciliation Day really captured my heart. I hope you join the community and the weekly contest!