Monday, October 17, 2011

Your Autumn Sweater

Fall doesn't exist in Edinburgh.


You must be scratching your head right now and pondering the paradox of how Fall isn't found in Edinburgh when ruby red leaves are pictured in this post. Let's get literal here, Fall isn't a concept in British English. To the Brits, "fall" is just a verb, not a word that entails pumpkin beverages, carving, and colors.


They call it Autumn. It's not as quaint here as trips to the apple orchard or getting lost in a corn maze back in America though. The only foliage to crunch over is the leaves that turn into a slippery sludge more detrimental than delightful due to all the rain we get. As I type, the weather outside my kitchen window is the downpour that probably inspired J.K. Rowling to create dementors.


Despite the lack of pumpkin spice lattes as Starbucks (they foolishly assume that their new creme brulee macchiato will suffice, it doesn't), you can still feel Autumn creeping on in, quite literally. My floorboards creek in the cold- having wooden floors may be aesthetically pleasing, but my chilled feet would beg to differ. My single-glazed windows may give me a nice view of the neighbor's black cat jumping around the garden, but also let the wind in (Scotland has officially been proclaimed the windiest country in Europe, duh.) Perhaps, the cat is an ill-omen and maybe the flat would be warmer if I stopped engaging with witches' familiars so close to Halloween.

Superstitions or not, I've come to the conclusion that the flat's many radiators are a piece of modern art- hideous and completely nonfunctional. Right now, my flatmate and I just laugh and pull on another reindeer cardigan, but we'll need to sort this out before winter really hits because the flat will only be inhabitable for actual reindeer then.

Until then, I found another trusty mustard piece of clothing to keep me warm (thank you Topshop for enabling my mustard obsession with your amazing duffle coats) and bought a hot water bottle (yes, they still sell them, I was surprised too.) And if worse comes to worst, there's always tea. Now, I understand why the British embraced it so much.

5 comments:

  1. Okay I admit I am addicted to Pumpkin spice lattes, but these photos are so beautiful Tess! I think I would trade for one year :)

    Thanks for all of your kind words! Yeah Kyle and I are not perfect, we are like a crazy old couple. I think most women need to drop the princess act, or they might end up losing a good guy. But to each their own.

    I am loving the new layout! The colors are so you. You should make your pics a little bit bigger, just because they are so cool! But blogger is dumb and screws up formatting, I know this, so no pressure.

    xo
    ~Sara

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  2. Ohmygod you're blogging. I was just thinking of you yesterday and wishing you were blogging. (I'm thinking of coming to ye olde Scotland for graduate school and was like, OMG where's Tess!?)
    I live in the draftiest m-f-ing house ever, since its dark all the time anyway, get some old blankets at a charity shop and hang them on the windows and roll one up and tuck it in the sill. I have quilts I hang on my walls to insulate my bedroom.
    I love your fall pics, they are gorgeous. Want me to send you some pumpkin spice fixin's from Satrbucks? Cause I will to help you capture a little American fall (not this autumn thing).
    <3
    SO GLAD TO SEE YOU BACK!

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  3. i love your new layout, it really showcases your photography, which seems to perfectly capture your surroundings. i would miss the fall traditions if i were there, but then again there are so many cool things there that would keep me occupied

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  4. Thank you so much for your kind words! It feels strange being at the age I am with what I am doing. I feel like a working woman, a student and a house-wife all rolled into one. I am finally making some friends at OU, and they are the sweetest and dorkiest people ever, I love them. But I feel old around everyone and I know it is time to leave, but it is hard when I still feel like a student at times.

    I fully understand all the pressure. I mean, either I get crap because I have a "good job", yeah i sit at a desk but I only make $12 per hour and they are strange about raises, so why did I finish school? Or it's what are you going to do when you graduate?

    Personally, I think you should visit the mitten in the summer! I might actually have a bed in the guest room by then :) We can sit around at caribou and try to figure out what to do with our lives.

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  5. GAH! WHy haven't I been reading your blog!! SOmehow it isn't on my reader... so I have catching up to do!

    Autumn is such a better word than fall. I mean fall is so lonely a word describing the leaves falling...

    And thanks for the comment! I knew you'd love the color of that yellow dress! It's so you! And I was confused when you said I had purple tights... nope those were my legs, the lighting was really weird that day... hahahaha. And I'm super pale!

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