Autumn this year is fantastic. Lots of sunshine with occasional rain which is really great for outdoor sports. Last year, I remember that it was raining all the time. Wet and cold.
Autumn is hands down my favourite season of the year. The picturesque golden and yellow leaves, especially when the sun is shining bright is simply breathtakingly beautiful. Forest floors covered with fallen leaves makes it more interesting to admire at.
It is the time however for the people here to bring out their winter clothing,.I have to say the colours are quite dull since usually the main choice is dark. Dark blue, dark green, dark grey and black. But I have seen quite a few ladies here wearing red hot RED outer wear and jackets and obviously it stands out in a crowd of dull clothes. Thats the way to do it to attract attention. For shoes, boots, worn knee length with skirts are popular among the women. Really nice to look at.
Daylight is also getting shorter. The sun now sets at 5.00 pm and by 8.30 pm, it feels like midnight. The nights are long and cold. And theres the Daylight Saving Time which means adjusting the clock backward 1 hour. I am still confuse about this thing even though I have experience it many times. Luckily, now almost every electrical appliances with a digital clock adjust itself automatically while I am asleep when its time to do that.
Autumn means that drivers flock to their mechanics and their favourite autoshop to change their vehicle summer tires to the winter ones. Motorcyclists brings our their full face helmet, even those who do not own a big bike since its very cold and the intention is obviously to keep their heads warm. Leg blankets to cover their exposed knees are attached to the motorcycles to keep the wind away. Gloves are a must for those who still ride their bikes at this time..
It is a common practice for shops here to sell their summer stuff at a very low price to get rid of the things they could not sell during the summer time since people just wont buy it at normal price. This is the time to buy summer cloths if `the waiting' to wear it for next year's summer is not an issue.On the other hand, winter jackets and clothing prices is so damn expensive. For instance a good, warm winter jacket can cost around CHF 250.00 - CHF 350.00. Imagine, like me, I have to spend quite a lot for all five person in my family. And that does not include shoe wares, sweaters, etc. So of course my strategy is to buy those things in off season sales since it cost much, much less that way.
The changing weather also means that its a season of getting those common colds, fever and coughs.Cant escape that since its quite infectious. I was accused of spreading it in my office since I was the one who got it first! If only I knew from whom I got it from in the first place. :)
I have mentioned in the earlier part of this post, autumn is also great for outdoor activities since its much cooler than those summer months, and as far as that is concern, I sort of admire the people here.
From my observation, Swiss consistently go out to do some outdoor activities, never mind what kind of seasons they are experiencing. In autumn, people are still cycling, jogging and hiking even though its cold. And come winter, apart from all that, they will take up winter sports like skiing, skating and snowboarding. Being active is but a second nature to them. Its no surprise to see people in their 60s and 70s still actively exercising. I met quite a lot of them doing just that in my weekend walk about shooting pics.
As for me, I really enjoyed autumn this year where I got bitten by the hiking bug and have not miss a weekend of viewing beautiful scenery in places that I will never have gone too if I drive. Took a lot of awesome pics as well.
Winter is just around the corner, and that means a whole range of new outdoor activities for me to experience. But no sledding this winter, since I have been scarred for life by the broken tail bones incident last year. (I somehow has developed a phobia of getting my butt on a sled).
Skiing looks like a fun alternative, but we'll see.
