Dear Germanee,

October is there. Der Oktober ist da.
Have you ever experienced the beauty of golden October in Germany?
Or maybe somewhere else in Europe?

When I had my daily phone call today with my mum back home, she said:
Ich denke, jetzt ist der Herbst angekommen. I believe, now autumn has arrived.

Well, that sentence sticks to my mind all day while working and moving
through the heat of Dubai.
There was a bit of excitement, but also kind of sadness in mum’s voice.
It made me think how I actually feel about fall season. I definitely love early autumn, but in the same time it hurts to say:

Auf Wiedersehen Sommer, hallo Oktober!

Good-bye summer, hello October!

It means instead of long nights out, more cozy evenings at home with cups of tea or warm cacao and lots of candles.
Instead of barefoot in sandals, warm socks with boots.
Instead of fresh salads, hot and delicious soups.

… by the way, if you’d like to cook a typical German potato soup, you can find the perfect recipe Kartoffelsuppe ala Angela Merkel at the end of my blog post about the verb “essen” / to eat.

However, der Monat Oktober, the month of October carries kind of magic in itself. The light is very special these days. Sun is lower while the sky is still enjoyably blue; before it’ll soon turn into grey November. Bit by bit, days become shorter and nights longer.

The leaves of trees turn into a potpourri of yellow, orange and red in all shades.
These colorful leaves enhance the impression of golden October. Most of them still on their trees, but a lot already fallen down on the ground. As soon as you walk through a park or a spot with a few trees you’d feel bathed in warm colors. And there is a rustling sound that accompanies every step when you walk on such a carpet of autumn leaves. Rish…rash…rish…rash. It gives even adults a childish pleasure to kick into a big heap of dry leaves. In the same time, these fallen leaves fill the air with an earthy scent, typical for autumn.

While October mornings are often quite cold already or even foggy, chances are good that the air warms up to pleasant 20ish degrees Celsius during the day.

After summer, people enjoy wearing their old-new warmer clothes again. When you leave home in the morning you need to be prepared for different temperatures. The best is to dress in layers, like an onion.

Apropos onion … October is still the time for harvesting grapes, pumpkins, apples and nuts; but also kale in the north of Germany.

Und? Was denkst du über den Monat Oktober? And? What do you think about the month of October, dear Germanee?
I’d be happy to read about your autumn-thoughts in the comments below!

Wishing you a wonderful October, wherever you are,

deine Tina Heimberg