Everything, Everything, Everything

Autumn has come and we're racing (or falling) with breakneck speed toward winter. I wrote a haiku about it in an Instagram caption, but then deleted it and posted something cheerful instead, because it was a little dark for shiny, happy IG.

I'll share it here though, because blogs were basically invented for dark thoughts.

Fall: A Haiku

Everything, Ev-
-erything, everything
Is going to die

Ah, autumn. Time to begin that precarious dance of living inside my favourite season while fully dreading my least favourite one. This weekend, though, I tried to just chill on the dread and embrace the living. Possibly a good thing to do all of the time, though not really my specific forte.

Some Things I Did:

1. I went to a Rider game with Julia. We had great seats, courtesy of Tourism Regina, and that meant that we were sitting with all of the most devoted Rider fans.

Rider games feel like a cross between a family reunion and a music festival: you've got a bunch of people who see each other only at this event but are absolutely pumped that everyone's there, and they're all excited out of their minds to watch the show.

If you're not from Saskatchewan (a demographic which makes up the majority of you, according to the stats page), you might not know about Rider fans, so I'll tell you about them: they're all nuts super passionate about their team - like, more than the average football fanbase. You may roll your eyes and you may say, Everyone thinks that about the fans in their city. But nope. I'm telling you: They might actually bleed green. Once, when I was doing that cable show, I had to go to the Grey Cup and interview a bunch of them, so I know about this firsthand.

Also, this was the last night game in Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field, which is kind of a big deal since this has been the home of the Roughriders since 1921. Kind of a long time. So everyone was all nostalgic about that.

Neither Julia nor I are all that into football, but we still go to games every once in a while. It's my understanding that you have to, as a resident of Regina. And when you get there, you get all swept up into the excitement and you're surrounded by this sea of pumped up people and you think, Well, maybe I actually am really into football? And you cheer and you jump and get all emotional. It's weird and wonderful. Maybe I'm just a big fan of feeling united with other people toward a common goal and Rider fans are really good at inviting you in and getting you all worked up and I'll take it however it comes?

We experienced the whole gamut of sportsy football feelings: Anticipation, Watching, Sad That The Other Team Ran The Wrong Way With The Ball, Excited That Our Team Ran The Right Way With The Ball, Drinking Hot Chocolate Because It's Super Cold Out Here, and Winning, as documented below:

Then we went to McDonald's to celebrate. 

2. On Sunday, Barclay, Sullivan, and I went out to Lumsden for the Great Pumpkin and Scarecrow Festival. The people of Lumsden decorated scarecrows and put them on their front lawns and there was judging (I love things with judging) and face-painting and those floating lanterns and horse-drawn wagon rides and people selling stuff. Then we went to an IMAX movie about space, which was awesome and super informative. 

3. On Monday, Barclay and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary and Barclay had the day off work. Our only objective for that day was to spend an HMV gift card my little sister gave us for our collective birthdays this summer. We achieved this goal with the help of a 2 for $20 sale and came home with a Vinyl Cafe CD and Snarky Puppy's Culcha Vulcha. Happy Anniversary to us.

Then we went to Fix for coffee and Vic Park for hangs. We passed a Pop-Up Downtown art piece and made a mental note to come back for an art walk some afternoon. 

It was such a gorgeous day. I almost forgot that everything, everything, everything is going to die. 

When we got home, my in-laws showed up and kicked us out, bless their hearts (bless Barclay's heart too, because it was his idea) - so we headed off for supper at the Creek in Cathedral Bistro. If you live in this city: GO THERE and get the caramel creme-brûlée made-in-house ice cream for dessert. 

Tell them I sent you. They'll stare at you blankly and say, "Who?" It'll be funny.