Many of you are familiar with Hygge; the Danish ritual of cherishing life’s simple pleasures. It’s also related to the winter season of “cozying” up to get us through the hibernation. But what about the season before the “winter Hygge” phase? Doesn’t it feel rushed to you? Football games, a fluctuation of warm and cold weather (especially if you live in Tulsa), Halloween decorations going out so, so early (earlier every year, it seems), festivals, the state fair, Octoberfest, etc… You are watering your plants less often and getting out of the summer routine. Being thrown back into your children’s school session, picture days, uniform changes, Starbucks changes its colors on cups and posters and introduces their Fall flavors, Williams-Sonoma cranks out the pumpkins desserts,  etc., Fall seems to zip by and then …..you’re in winter.

I DON’T LIKE THIS feeling of one of the most beautiful seasons zipping by us. And the season I’m talking about is the “mini-season” in Fall….not Fall, not Autumn…but INDIAN SUMMER. This is defined as “dry, warm weather occurring in late Autumn” but it’s also a reference to “a period of happiness or success occurring late in life.”  The leaves and grass are still green, the colors haven’t changed, a summer wardrobe is still in use and dusk comes a little earlier in the evenings but it’s not quite Daylight Savings time, yet.

I’ve compiled a list of favorite “Fall Hygge” rituals that people can binge on to get the satisfaction and closure of the beautiful seasons before Winter Hygge begins. As I read over this old blog draft before I publish it, I realize so many of these rituals did not happen this year during the Covid-19 quarantine. However, we can still appreciate them and plan to do them again in the future, hopefully!

Piñon  and Propane. Lighting pungent piñon as often as we can is one of peoples’  favorite Fall activities. Of course, you can do this all year but something about smelling the piñon wood smoke while drinking a Malbec or Red Zinfandel is simply divine. On the chilly night, light a propane heater and enjoy the soothing , radiant heat. People also love to change their candles to seasonal scents. Woodwick makes a candle that crackles like a fire.

Try yard incense, too! This was a first this year and I’m addicted.

Indian Summer/Autumn wreath. Wreaths with removable decorations can be  modified   with the seasons. Celebrate Indian Summer/Autumn by putting harvest florals on it long before you put holiday embellishments on it.

Visit the last Farmers Markets. October is the last month for my favorite neighborhood farmers market. The veggie wagon has switched over to gourds and pumpkins. Soak up the Saturday morning climate and live music. It won’t be back until April.

Williams Sonoma “crash course”. Stop by Williams Sonoma to see what recipes they are featuring at their snack corner. Look at all the new tools and fall colored rubber spatulas. Who can resist the Pumpkin Pancake mix and Vermont Maple Syrup combo? I always pick up one bag of pumpkin bread mix and pumpkin butter and a Hot Chocolate mix. It’s a ritual for my college sons when they come home for Fall Break.

Barnes and Noble book binge. (Or, stop by neighborhood book boxes and trade!) (Or Amazon). Collect all your Hygge season books that you want to binge-read while hibernating. For me, it’s travel-genre books. I can never have enough of them.

Barbecue and Smores it up. Put your hubbies to work! Men love to grill.  Alternate grilling steaks, lamb chops, salmon or ribs. Sit back and enjoy the aroma. Get paper plates so you really have practically no clean up. Lighting a fire and roasting smores for dessert is decadent. Red meat, wine and chocolate trifecta!

Make your Christmas list and order your cards. Outline your gift list while you have clarity. Doing this rushed in the hectic Christmas season is stressful. If you’re going to mail out photo cards, choose your pic and card now.

Vino switch. Cleanse your summer palate and experiment with new wines. I take a break from Red Zinfandels and mix it up with Malbecs or other reds.

Balcony Binge.  When socializing, choose restaurants with balconies to soak up the nice weather. Mayo Hotel has a great one. Downtown, Brookside, Utica Square, Cherry Street, etc. all have good patios and balconies. You’ll be indoors for several months so squeeze out that last bit of balcony time. Also, when meeting friends for lunch, eat outside on the patios for as long as you can.

Whimsical Pedicure. Before the closed toe shoes are a must, get one whimsical pedicure with a bold or crazy color that you’ve always wanted to try. Enjoy those toesies before they get hidden away in your socks. Admire the view in the bubblebath. haha.

Guthrie Green and Art Crawl it up. Hit all the Guthrie Green concerts and activities. I love that Tulsans are appreciating this green area. I don’t do it enough, I’ll admit. However, I do try to attend the art crawls monthly. This is such a fantastic activity for any city. It’s free, cultural and gets you out and about where you’ll enjoy live music and street performers on the sidewalks. End up at a delicious downtown tavern—a perfect evening!

Purple Pansies. Planting fall pansies is such a great ritual. Get the kids involved. A splash of purple and eggplant colors is perfect for fall.

Helmerich Tree Park. Ride your bike, walk your dog and plunge into the fall leaves at the beautiful tree park adjacent to Woodward Park and learn the names of the labeled trees. This sanctuary is a great gift to Tulsa from a tree lover.

Octoberfest. You can’t skip a year without a tabletop chicken-dance and carnival rides of Octoberfest. People watching , kielbasa and that giant beer stein screams “Fall!”

Route 66 Marathon and Tulsa Run. Cheer on the runners at the marathon or better yet, train and sign up for the run yourself!

The Greek Festival. The third week of every September (except for 2017 when we built a new hall) is the time to celebrate Tulsa’s oldest ethnic festival. Get your Greek on. Gyros, ouzo and so much more.

Change your exercise routine. Mix it up. Did you run, walk or bike all summer? Try yoga, pilates or barre class to change things up and trick your metabolism.

Weekly clubs. Book club, dinner club…? If you need a reason to get out of the house regularly in the winter–join or start a club. You will avoid going to be too early which is so tempting.

Whatever your Autumn rituals are, if you get them all out of your system, it makes winter a bit more bearable. Some people LOVE winter and I think that’s great for them. Personally, I am not a fan but I don’t dwell on counting down the days to summer too much. Never wish time away as they say. Now, I just try to come up with more Autumn rituals to binge on!

© Gina Michalopulos Kingsley