I started my job at SNAP on Wednesday, October 6. SNAP produces around sixty community-based publications across Canada, the US and even one in Italy. Each paper reports on local events and provides ample ad space for small local businesses and national chains alike. Anyway, my job is to take care of the creative end of one of the papers. I do all the page layout and ad design for one of the franchises. So far, I like my job quite a bit! I work with a bunch of fun, outgoing people and I get to design ads for most of the day. We do get into some pretty long hours the week before the paper goes to press, but those times remind me of being back in school, so I don't mind it so much.
In addition to my new job, October also ushered in Canada's most beautiful season. While I love to see glittering snow carpeting the ski hill in the Winter and the hot sun shining on a lake in summer, I really do think Canada shows it's true colours (aren't I punny, Tom?) in Autumn. By mid-October, every deciduous tree was on fire with bright, warm colour and there was a distinct crispness in every breath of fine, fresh air. I was able to enjoy the season fully on Thanksgiving weekend.
My little brother (who is actually about a foot taller than me) arrived home late Thursday night and was available to be picked on for a whole 3 days. We celebrated our little family reunion by going apple-picking… except we didn't. We all piled into the car and drove out to Stouffville to the apple orchard, only to be greeted with a large sign that read 'Pick-Your-Own Sold Out for the Season'. Ridiculous! I guess we should have gone earlier. We stopped in at another farm to purchase a few apples and headed home. Luckily, my Dad spotted another orchard and we were able to pull over and take a stroll through the trees. However, I think this farm needed one of those signs, too— there were barely any apples left on the branches (there were quite a few on the ground, rotten and stepped on). But we were quite happy to take a walk in the warm autumn sun and enjoy the scenery. And I did purchase a candy apple on my way out!
On Sunday, we drove down to Innerkip to my Aunt Donna's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was much warmer down there, despite the fact that it was only about a 2 hour drive from Newmarket. We sat on the wide front porch, catching up while enjoying some bevies and we played some new-fangled version of lawn darts. Soon, the rest of my family started to arrive, including most of my Aunts and Uncles and my cousins Jordan and Spencer. Jordan is 19 and a bit of a tough guy. He showed me his new tattoo and chatted a bit about school. Spencer is 3 and VERY rambunctious. At first, he was too shy to talk to me, but it didn't take long for him to warm up to me. We played hide and seek and all kinds of games. He's a cutie.
The dinner was fantastic! I can always count on my Aunts to make an amazing meal. We had turkey and mashed potatoes and stuffing and turnip and bean salad and— a German tradition— delicious red cabbage. I barely had room for pumpkin pie! We ended the evening with coffee and my new favourite Canadian TV program: Battle of the Blades. After everyone left, my Dad drove Jordan (my brother, not my cousin) back down to Western. Then it was bedtime for all of us, we had an early morning the next day.
Monday morning, we bundled up and drove into Kitchener-Waterloo to see the Oktoberfest parade. I haven't been in YEARS, but I remember going almost every-other year as a kid. The parade seems a lot longer than it used to be. There were marching bands (my favourite), giant balloons, horse-pulled beer wagons, cultural heritage dancers, women in dirndls and men in lederhosen and, of course, the obligatory local celebrities. It was a good time!
Tomorrow: the rest of the Octomonth!
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