And all of sudden it’s autumn
Time just flies by ... just a minute ago it was summer and suddenly my son needs warm ski underwear under his kit for his football training. The first tournament of the autumn season on 17th September even had to be cancelled because of snow.
I’m telling you, I love autumn. Somehow everything is quieter, and you don't always have the feeling of missing something if you stay at home. While in summer one event follows the other and the various possibilities to spend one's free time are practically on our doorstep.
You constantly hear yourself or others saying:
- Oh, with this wonderful weather we should go up the mountain and enjoy the wonderful panoramic view.
- Or take the lift up to the adventure mountain and explore the local fauna at the Alpine Animal Champions Cup in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee.
- Maybe we could ask grandpa if he'll go fishing with us, we always have one on the line at the wildlife park in Untertauern.
- Wow, this weekend is the Mega Children's Day, we should go, it's really cool, and it only takes place every 2 years (Mega Children's Day Video).
- Yes, you should definitely try the adventure park in Flachau, it's supposed to be great for kids and there's also a summer toboggan run there.
- Phew, t's so hot today we could with cooling off in the swimming pool, so we're off to the Alpine Pool in Radstadt.
- Did you know that there are lots of mushrooms this year, the whole forest is full?
- How about a game of minigolf today? we haven’t played for a long time.
- That alpine hut with the great snack platter, I'd love to go there again this summer.
- An "adrenaline day" wouldn't be bad either, there are these e-trial bikes for kids in Obertauern, a great experience, for sure.
- We can barbecue, play tennis or just enjoy the summer ... and much, much more
We are really blessed to live in a region where there’s so much on offer. We live where other people spend their vacation, and that is simply great in most cases.
What I sometimes find very practical is that some of our shops are open on Sundays too - which is unusual for "normal" places in Austria without tourism. We can draw from the full range and if you get bored with us in the summer, it's "your own fault", to put it bluntly. A small drawback, however, is the amount of traffic. Since we are more or less at home on the Tauern motorway, on many summer days it is not possible to make a trip by car because travellers to and from Italy clog up the motorways, but we switch to bicycles or scooters if we want to move around in the region and to trains if we want to go further afield.
And then, as if from one day to the next, autumn arrives, almost without notice. As a working mum, I in particular get the feeling that I can finally take a breather. It doesn't matter if the afternoon is simply spent at home or your child says after playing outside for an hour that it wants to go back inside because it’s fingers are so cold.
Autumn with us "in the mountains" is simply cosy. The play of colours in the leaves becomes more colourful every day, while the snow is already laughing down from the mountain peaks. By the way: I can smell the snow ... you too?
I never put all my autumn clothes away, they go on the top shelf of the wardrobe during the summer and when autumn comes around again, I have everything ready to hand. And believe me, in our house it can happen very quickly that you need them.
While I drink a "winter tea" in the autumn sun, I ask myself if it's just the autumn I like so much, or if it's the joy that winter will soon be here. Hmmmm.... because skiing and sledging and cross-country skiing and backcountry skiing are great too.
And inside I hope that by the first weekend of Advent at the latest, everything will be white, and we can start the winter season... yeah.
Then I put my tea aside, take my son by the hand and we go to the cellar. Yes, to the cellar, because that's where our decoration stuff is. Of course, there's one or the other autumn decoration box. How could it be any different in our house? Before we get started and decorate the flat for autumn, we go out and look for beech nuts, chestnuts and colourful leaves so that the big decorative figures also have cosy places to sit.
My son can hardly wait for winter, and he prepares everything so that when the time comes, everything is ready to hand.
A country saying to finish:
If the leaves fall very quickly in the forest, winter will soon be here" ??
Are you already in the mood for your winter vacation :)?Create your dream winter vacation in the Salzburger Sportwelt. Let's go.
photo credits: Sonja Holzer