INSIDE AURORA: Signs of Fall in Aurora

September 9, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Scott Johnston

While it may technically still be summer, the signs of fall are all around us.
The winding down of the CNE, the odd branch starting to show its autumn colours, shorter days, a nip in the air, and kids gearing up for back to school.
And no, Federal election signs everywhere don’t count, since those started appearing earlier in the summer.
But the above are the more obvious and traditional indications. There are other more subtle, yet unmistakable signs of fall, some of them unique to Aurora.
For example, you know fall is approaching when Council starts to talk about the next year’s budget. We’re still months away from the serious discussions, but around now the hints start appearing. There may be limited budget money now, but there’s nothing like the anticipation of funding for future projects.
Related to this, of course, is the Council project deferral. Yes, you can tell it’s September when items start getting shoved into next year.
“This may impact next year’s budget. Perhaps we should consider this then?”
“Good idea. And that applies to agenda items two, three, six, seven, nine, ten, twelve and fourteen, as well.”
“Excellent. Meeting adjourned.”
Outside of politics, another sign of fall is the mad scramble of folks to get things done around their properties. People seem to be in a flurry of activity, cleaning out eaves troughs, repairing fences, painting window frames, taking down last year’s Christmas lights, and any number of other things they’ve put off all summer, because the weather has been too nice to waste doing chores.
And now with winter fast approaching, they’re running out of time.
In the stores, you may think that fall is introduced by back to school stuff, or even Hallowe’en items. But the real sign the season has started is when you see your first hint of Christmas.
It could be a store display, or a flier, or even a commercial. Yes, even with four months to go, retailers can’t pass up the opportunity to urge us to pry open our wallets and start Christmas shopping.
I remember when you wouldn’t see anything related to December 25 until at least after Halloween, but then the retail-related calendar creep set in, and merchants started gearing up earlier and earlier.
You may think I’m kidding, but if you haven’t seen anything Christmas-related yet, well, you’re just not looking hard enough.
The other retail harbinger of the season is the arrival of spring clothing. At this stage of the year, winter fashions in the stores have been out for a while and are already starting to get picked over, so if you want to get anything warmish, you’ll need to buy it fast.
Otherwise, you may need to spend your winter outdoors layered up under several light windbreakers, or raincoats, or whatever other spring fashions are starting to take over the shelves.
One of the things most associated with the coming season is the fall colours. But ironically, the shade that first demonstrates the start of fall is not the red, gold and yellow of the leaves, but the green of the grass.
After a hot, scorching, insect embattled, water ban suffering few months, the yellow straw that constitutes our lawns starts to green up again with the cooler temperatures and increased rain.
And that’s an opportunity to enjoy while you can, because before you know it, it will all be covered by a blanket of white.