Jenn Writes

Tag: fall

  • Word Wednesday – Autumnal thoughts

    Word Wednesday – Autumnal thoughts

    Fall has arrived and with it fall weather – which is awesome (with the exception of leaves – which aren’t so awesome when  you’re highly allergic to leaf mold like I am). Cooler days and cool nights mean I’m sleeping better and can actually walk the dog in the middle of the day when he prefers it without melting into a blob on the sidewalk. I quite enjoy fall. It’s not too hot, not generally too cool, there’s football to watch, playoff baseball in Toronto, and Thanksgiving at the family cottage to look forward to.

    We’ve done Thanksgiving at the cottage for years now. Even without mum, Dad and I wanted to keep up the tradition. It’s also a good weekend to get fall work done at the cottage, take in the dock and generally clean up the place. Dad will go up at least once more after Thanksgiving to clear leaves off the beach but Thanksgiving is generally my last trip up to the cottage for the season (this is partly due to the dog – he loves getting messy up there and it’s too cool to have to wash him).  We usually have a turkey dinner up there. It’s not that much harder to cook up there than it is to do at home – the stove is smaller and runs hot but as long as I remember that and adjust the oven temp accordingly, it’s pretty nice. I also really enjoy having Thanksgiving dinner while looking out over the lake and at the gorgeous fall colours.

    a forest of multi coloured trees seen from across a still lake
    I took this photo last year – and it wasn’t even at the height of the colours yet!

    I spend a lot of time over Thanksgiving taking pictures of leaves – I love looking at all the different colours. I’m incredibly thankful that I have the ability to go to cottage country and look at the gorgeous colours every fall. Of course there’s a lot of work to be done, but I can always find a few minutes to sit on the deck and quietly appreciate the foliage. I’m a little biased here, but I think Canadian Thanksgiving comes at the perfect time – right in the middle of the fall harvest, when we literally have a cornucopia of things to be thankful for. Which made me think about cornucopias and so they became my Word Wednesday word today.

    A wicker horn filled with gourds and pumpkin on a table with fake orange leaves around it
    A cornucopia.

    Cornucopia is a neat word – it hasn’t changed in meaning or usage at all over the years. The word comes from the Latin (surprise!) words cornu copiae – which literally mean “Horn of Plenty” – which is one of the definitions of cornucopia. The other meaning of cornucopia relates to the “plenty” aspect of the original meaning – a cornucopia of fall harvest vegetables simply means an abundance of them. So to all those who are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend, I wish you a cornucopia of good food, good drinks, and good conversation with those who mean the most of you.

    Oh… and one more picture from last Thanksgiving because, leaves.

    A maple tree with yellow leaves and bright red flashes on them
    This tree is always my favourite – I love the contrast in the leaves.

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    Cornucopia   cor·nu·co·pia  noun

    1. A curved goat’s horn overflowing with fruit and ears of grain that is used as a decorative motif emblematic of abundance.
    2. An abundant supply of good things of a specified kind / an inexhaustible source.

  • Cheerleader etiquitte

    Cheerleader etiquitte

    Okay this post is a week overdue. Sorry about that but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overreacting to the situation. Last weekend I went to the opening game of the Waterloo Warriors season with a friend and her daughters. I wanted to check out some of the Guelph Gryphon players and see how UW was going to do with their newly resurrected football team.

    The game itself was a blowout but I expected that.  What I didn’t expect was the complete lack of attention the cheerleaders paid to the game.  They were cheering through the huddle, through injured players on the field and when the other team was scoring.  They held up signs that blocked fans’ views of the field while the game was on.  It wasn’t only the signs, they also stunted and did cartwheels which also blocked the view of fans.  To me, doing backflips when there is an injured player on the field shows a lack of respect for the game that you’re supposed to be cheering at.  It seems like the UW cheerleaders have forgotten that they’re not the main attraction but are simply supposed to be cheering on the team and getting the fans involved IN THE GAME.  Distracting fans so they can’t see the game makes true fans not come back.  I’m not sure I want to go to another Warriors game – why would I pay to see a game that I won’t get to see all of because for at least 1 quarter there will be cheerleaders blocking my view and getting the fans to yell at completely inappropriate times?

    They also looked sloppy.  One of them was chewing gum.  the rest of them slouched, stood around with hands on hips (and not in the typical, cheerleader ready to cheer pose – in a I’m bored and don’t want to be here way). I have seen high school cheer teams behave more appropriately.  If the Waterloo cheerleaders don’t want to be at the game – then don’t go.  The true football fans will thank you.

    Because I know a couple of people who were involved in the Warrior Band over the years (and have been persuaded to play when they were shorthanded on more than on occasion) I feel the need to mention them too.  They were there.  They were far from mighty.  They were not balanced – 3 flutes, a trumpet, a sax and a badly played drum from what I could hear and see.  They also barely played.  This is unusual. Typically the Warrior Band is in direct competition with the Rider band for the “who can annoy the opposing team first” award.  I heard them 3 times – once before the game, once in the 3rd quarter when the PA announcer directed our attention to a passable version of the Magnificent 7, and when they murdered the Warrior song.  My friend who went with me to the game has been to a lot of UW games.  I have not.  I asked her if the song I heard was the Warrior song, she said “no”  then “maybe” then “i don’t know – it sounds kind of like the Warrior song but played really badly”.  Being a flute player, I am pretty sure that the flute part i heard was part of the Warrior song – but not so sure about everything else.  Hopefully they, too, get better with practice.

     

    With all of that said, I did have a great time at the game.  Saw some great football (mostly by Guelph) and spent an early fall day (yes I know it’s still technically summer but the leaves are starting to change colour so it’s fall to me) outside in the fresh air.

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