Photo - Leaves changing colour near my home

I feel like I missed fall last year because I had Covid and spent a lot of time at home just recovering. This year, I want to enjoy fall in the month of October, so I’m going to be taking a few days off to enjoy some fall activities.

High Park - Now is a good time to visit High Park, Toronto’s biggest and most famous public park, to see the fall colours and help the squirrels get ready for winter. The squirrels at High Park are quite used to being fed by humans, and if you sit quietly on a bench, they will climb up your leg and eat out of your hand. High Park also has a small zoo and conveniently has a subway station (High Park Station) right beside it! It’s one of my destinations in October!

Canadian Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving is celebrated in November in the US, but it takes place in October in Canada. This year, Thanksgiving is on October 9th. This means that October is a good time to meet up with your family to enjoy a big meal and maybe some pumpkin pie. I’m planning to visit my grandmother on October 2nd and 3rd to have an early Thanksgiving since we will not be able to meet on the 9th. On the 9th, I’ll try to prepare a nice dinner for my wife because she has to work that day. 

Marathon day - Fall is a popular season for running marathons because it’s nice and cool. These days, it’s around 20 degrees during the day and around 12 degrees at night. On October 15th, I’ll join one of my friends to support our wives, who are running in a marathon. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to join the marathon, but I’ll show up to cheer at the finish line! After that, I hope we can have a nice dinner together. It would be nice to eat outside, but there are so many wasps around these days.

The dentist - It’s that time again! I visit my dentist’s office for a checkup and cleaning every four months, and this time I also need to get a chipped tooth fixed. Fortunately, it’s a small chip, so it shouldn’t take long. Although Canada has a universal health system, dental work is not included, so it can be very expensive without private insurance. However, all of my dentists have been very nice and highly-skilled, with a lot of advanced technology in their offices, so going to the dentist is actually not so bad these days!

Christmas chocolate production - My wife works for a chocolatemaker in Toronto called SOMA, and Christmas is a very, VERY busy season for them, so production of chocolate for Christmas started at the beginning of September. The staff doubles at this time of year, and there is a lot of work to be done to prepare for the holiday season. I occasionally go in to help out when they need a hand, so if a few hours are blocked on my Cafetalk schedule each week, that’s why! In November, the whole area around the shop, which is called the Distillery District, is transformed into a Christmas market, which attracts thousands of visitors to check out not only the local stores but also the pop-up stalls, musical performances, and HUGE Christmas tree. 

Halloween - Since Halloween is my favourite holiday, I will definitely be taking the evening off to dress up and go trick-or-treating with my friends and their 5-year-old daughter. This year, she wants to be Spider-Girl, but I’ll stick with my usual vampire costume. All of the Halloween decor for sale in stores right now is very attractive and tempting, but I must resist buying more plastic and paper stuff! Instead, I’ll try to decorate with pumpkins, gourds, and colourful Indian corn. Although it’s not quite October yet, I’m going to dig through my seasonal decoration box today and see what else I can find for Halloween!