As we retire our shorts to the back of our closets and dust off our sweaters, it’s getting harder and harder to ignore the brisk weather and splashes of changing leaves. Love it or hate it, summer is winding down, and there’s no denying that fall’s right around the corner.

Some of The Journal staff members shared what they’re looking forward to most this fall to help you brace for the changing seasons.

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My housemate told me she once made pumpkin pie and served it to a bunch of her drunk friends in the middle of a party. Since then, I’ve brought this story up on numerous occasions to express my keen interest in recreating that scene in our home. We’ve been rediscovering the joys of home because of the pandemic (she made a peach crisp this week and it was, well, peachy and wonderful).

I’m shamelessly using this opportunity to, again, bring it up—this fall, I’m most looking forward to eating a slice of pumpkin pie in the living room with my housemates

—Claudia Rupnik, News Editor

After a year full of dread and worry, I’m looking forward to the certainty of fall traditions.

While it’s hard to know what the news will tell us each morning, there’s a sense of stability that comes with the welcome of the new season. As the leaves change, candy corn will go on sale, pumpkin spice will appear in every food and beverage imaginable, and brand-new network television shows will get cancelled before their first season is finished airing. Although not all of these traditions are ones I would usually look forward to, 2020 has given me a new love for the reliability of the changing seasons.

—Kirby Harris, Assistant Lifestyle Editor 

Besides the end to my thighs chafing every time I walk somewhere, the best thing about the colder weather is the food. Soups, hot meals, and festive Thanksgiving cuisine to match add flavour to the days. To make things even better, hot beverages suddenly become appealing again.

If I could spend the rest of my life curled up in an armchair wearing an oversized sweater and drinking a cup of hot chocolate, I’d have nothing to complain about.

—Raechel Huizinga, Editor-in-Chief

I hate to admit it, but what I’m most looking forward to about fall is the good ol’ pumpkin spice latte. I look forward to that sugary, cinnamon-covered goodness every year. It just tastes like fall.

To me, its arrival has always signalled the start of everything else great about the season: the leaves, the sweaters, the start of a new school year. While it freaks me out a little that the Starbucks marketing team has clearly rewired my brain, the association brings me an extraordinary amount of joy. What can I say? It’s my favourite way to shred $6.

—Julia Harmsworth, Assistant News Editor 

Fall is my favourite season for a number of reasons: the cooler weather, the changing leaves, the excuse to wear a giant sweater all hours of the day. But my favourite part of the fall, by far, is Halloween.

Forget cozying up by the fire with a good book—to me, fall is all about putting together the best possible costume and buying discounted candy at the grocery store in the first week of November. This year, Halloween lands on a full moon, and I’m ecstatic about it.

While it won’t be a typical Halloween, I’m not going to let that stop me from my yearly tradition. I’m dressing up, even if I’ll only be sitting around my kitchen table with my housemates eating candy corn.

—Shelby Talbot, Lifestyle Editor