“Autumn is a time for changing leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, and cozy sweaters.” — Julie Hage
November is here, and it’s time to get cozy as we approach the upcoming holidays. What is it about this time of year (in the Northern Hemisphere) that puts us in the mood to get cozy? Is it the change in season from Autumn to Winter?
Cozy means comfortable, safe, warm, snug, and secure. After a very warm summer for many of us, I know I feel ready for cold weather and snuggling up in a fluffy blanket, enjoying a hot beverage next to a roaring fire. Most of us set our clocks back to end daylight savings time, which adds to the fading evening light and dressing in warmer clothing. I enjoy every season, but fall has always captured my imagination, and getting cozy also means planning for the holiday season.
For those of you who live below the equator, I’m sure you’re getting ready for late spring and early summer and the excitement of enjoying the outdoors. Your warm summer breezes are comfortable and pleasant, which is another way to describe “cozy.”
However you describe COZY, indulge me for a few minutes while I show you what cozy means to me.
Outdoor Coziness
Despite the cold temperatures this time of year in Eastern Washington, when the sun shines for a whopping 8 hours a day (if not foggy or cloudy), the autumn scenery invites a feeling of coziness on a woody trail…
Leaf and larch peeping…
enjoying the view of an idyllic homestead…
or capturing this blue heron getting cozy with his fellow Canada geese.
“I cozy up to autumn’s trees. Fall asleep to the lullaby of windblown leaves.”
~ Angie Weiland-Crosby
Cozy Holidays
The holiday season seems to come quickly after early September. Kids are back in school, and stores and shops are already selling Halloween/Harvest decor and candy to make room for all the Thanksgiving and Christmas hoopla.
Local Harvest Festivals invoke a cozy feeling…
Even our pets want to get cozy.
Soon, it’s time to decorate a cozy Holiday table…
…Then, get ready to visit Santa.
Let’s EAT! (Yule Log handmade by my daughter for New Year’s Eve 2023).
Feeling cozy yet?
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
- I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
Sharing for Dawn’s Festival of Leaves and Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday.
Temporary, Seasonal Change Comes to the Sunday Stills Challenge November 17 – February 2
** Please note: Beginning November 17, I’ll be extending the weekly themes to bi-monthly (every two weeks) through the first week in February due to travel and family events. Beginning Feb 9, 2025, we’ll be back to weekly themes. You can post just once during the 2-week period or on both Sundays through each week, depending on YOUR schedule. No NEW SUNDAY STILLS posts will be published in the second week to remind you, although I may remind you in a Wordless Wednesday post. I will read and comment on your posts as usual.
Please visit my Sunday Stills Page for the schedule.
I can’t wait to see how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme.
Please join me on November 17 & 24 for the two-week November Color Challenge: Shades of Auburn and/or Brown.
“There’s nothing better than settling in with a cozy fall blanket, a hot drink in your favorite autumn mug, the perfect fall candle, and enjoying a fall sunset.” — Julie Hage
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