Spring, summer and winter can pack in – autumn is the best season!
12.10.2022
Translation: Eva Francis
I love autumn. Because it’s cool. Because it’s windy. Because it’s rainy. Because I can finally choose from wearing more than a T-shirt and shorts (and I no longer sweat like a pig all day long). And because I finally feel like spending time cooking again. Especially soups.
Life is good. Outside, the rain is lashing down and it’s as cold as 10 degrees Celsius. In my home, it’s just below 20 degrees and I’m lounging on the sofa in comfy clothes with a cup of steaming hot, fresh ginger-lemon infusion while I’m waiting for the skin of the pumpkin in my oven to slowly turn brown. Autumn has arrived. At last.
Yes, at last. I love autumn. It’s the best season ever. My colleague Katja said some kind words about autumn in her «guide to autumn with children», but she also expressed some pity. She mentioned summer and winter are much more liked, and even spring is more popular than autumn. And indeed, a quick Google search confirms that summer seems to be everyone’s favourite season – followed by spring.
This is reason enough for me to sing a song of praise for autumn. Because, and I say this with the utmost conviction, I find the post-summer-before-winter months by far the most wonderful time of the year. Why? Here are my three reasons.
1. Fashion
Some people might disagree with me, but I think summer is utter fashion hell. It’s just too hot. My choice? Shorts, T-shirt or a linen shirt. It’s too warm for anything else. And depending on your job, you might only be able to wear shorts at the weekend. Open-toed shoes on men’s feet are also controversial. Flip-flops belong on the beach. Sandals are supposed to look great on men, according to our fashion editor Stephanie. But after trying it out in what felt like 40 degrees in the shade at Winterthur’s Albanifest, they’re not an option for me any more. Why? Firstly, I didn’t like it, secondly, neither did my daughter, and thirdly, I had sweaty feet anyway.
But now, with daytime highs of 15 degrees Celsius, I can finally wear shirts with sweater vests or T-shirts with knitted jumpers again. I can put on sneakers, boots or loafers without standing in sweaty socks within a short time. And above all, I can finally make extensive use of my well-stocked range of between-season jackets again. While my colleague Richard Müller had to buy a warm jacket at the last minute for a trip to Hamburg, I recently left my flat four times on a windy, cool and sunny Saturday and put on a different jacket every time: once a leather jacket, once a corduroy jacket, once a jeans jacket and once a parka.
And I have even more between-season jackets.
In winter, I’m just wrapped up warm – with a thick jacket, a hat and boots – and in spring, I go between «stayed too long in winter mode or hopped too early into summer mode». Just (too) rarely fitting.
2. Food
Some sweat off the stress of work while doing sports, others try to transition from work to leisure with an after-work beer. For my me-time in the evening, I shuffle from my home office to the kitchen and do some improvised cooking. I can switch off and relax while cooking. But not in summer. When it’s well over 20 degrees Celsius in my flat all day long, I don’t feel like eating warm food. Salads are yummy, but after a while, they get boring (and that includes pasta, rice and couscous salad). Apparently, some people cook meatloaf, osso buco, cream soups or goulash even in the height of summer. Not me.
And even though I have a decent-sized BBQ grill on my balcony, I don’t fancy grilling a piece of meat or fish and the usual vegetables several times a week. Plus, having a large BBQ requires a lot of cleaning.
How I love autumn, when it’s cool outside and warm inside. When pumpkins are ripe and game is hunted. When it’s time for Papet Vaudois (a popular dish from the Vaud canton in Switzerland), meat pie from Chur and traditional kale dishes from Hamburg. When food no longer has to be light, but can be hearty.
Source: Oliver Fischer
But of all things, my favourite dish to cook in autumn (and admittedly winter) is soups. Preferably soups based on the recipes of the terrific Tine Giaccobo:
3. Free time
Google «outdoor pool» and «China» and look at the pictures. This is pretty much what all outdoor pools in Winterthur looked like last summer. Not a place where I decided to spend much of my free time. But staying at home in a hot flat is no option either. Hiking would have been a good idea. But when there’s hardly a breeze even at over 2,000 metres above sea level and the air is easily over 20 or even over 25 degrees Celsius, even hiking is a sweaty activity. Last summer, outdoor sports were only possible in the morning at the crack of dawn or late in the evening. In view of these circumstances, I too often lounged around like a (half-)dead fly and wished for nothing else than autumn weather and a cool breeze.
I have both now. At last. Taking a walk is refreshing again. Hiking in the Engadine during the autumn holidays will invigorate your body and mind, not power them out. I can do sports again whenever I want and can, not just when the temperatures allow me to.
And if the weather isn’t good enough for walking, hiking or sports, I can finally sit on the couch in comfortable clothes again, enjoy a hot ginger-lemon infusion, read a book, play Red Dead Redemption 2 (the most autumnal game I can imagine) or look up which of Tine Giaccobo’s dinner I want to cook that day.
Life is good.
Oliver Fischer
Teamleader Editorial
Oliver.Fischer@digitecgalaxus.chGlobetrotter, hiker, wok world champion (not in the ice channel), word acrobat and photo enthusiast.
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