For those of you not fortunate enough to be swooning over the autumnal colours, the fall is just a slow slide into the freezing teeth of winter. Goodbye, warm sunny days, abundant daylight and blue skies, hello cloud, dark afternoons and that flea-bitten coat.
So, what better to stave off the misery of what’s to come by accepting it’s going to happen and doing something positive about it? And there is nothing better than the time-tested method of distraction by trying out something new.
It should come as no surprise that most of these will be indoor-based activities, what with all that rain on its way, but we should at least try and grab some of the fleeting rays.
Visit a Gallery
Wherever you live, you’re never that far away from a gallery. If you live in a major city you’ll be spoilt for choice, but when was the last time you actually went?
The great thing about galleries is that they allow you to enjoy something new, each time you darken their doors. This isn’t just on account of new exhibitions or displays, exceptional objects should have an uncanny disposition of being seen anew on every visit.
Galleries or museums) are also one of the top places to check out when the weather takes a turn for the miserable. But slipping inside one when it’s a clear, bright October day will allow you to see the exhibits in a different light too.
Play video games
This one is as broad as it’s long because there are so many games catering to every possible taste. You can play racing games with the kids, strategy games with your partner, say, or just fire up the smartphone and get into some Starburst Slots.
Video games are a great way of spending time on a rainy day. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve a state-of-the-art console or just a tablet/phone as there are always great new games to play.
To make it even more fun, take some time to plan what you’re going to be playing, first by taking into consideration those playing. This will help to give the gaming session a sense of occasion while preventing your five-year-old from getting stuck into the re-boot of Resident Evil 2.
If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, why not invest in the new generation of VR Headsets? With one of these devices, you can skip autumn altogether and come up smiling in the spring.
Take up a hobby
If ‘hobby’ conjures up images of being stuck in a crepuscular shed working away at a small piece of wood in the vague hope of fashioning a spoon, stop. A hobby can be anything you want, and in some respects therein lies the problem.
There are so many to choose from it’s easy to become overwhelmed before flipping on the tube and half-watching a re-run of TJ Hooker. For a start, reading is a hobby, have you read all the books? Of course, you haven’t.
Okay, you probably read already, so where to start? How about thinking of the stuff that excited you as a teenager as a starting point?
Maybe you wanted to play the keyboard or guitar, perfect your drawing or painting skills or get into pottery. The pressure is off now, you don’t need to impress anyone, just enjoy doing want you want in your own time.
Plan and execute a dinner party
What can be better than cosying up with a group of friends and experimenting on them with your new recipe for coq-au-vin? Probably didn’t work out, so this time, do the job properly with our top tips.
- Plan, plan and plan again.
You’ll need at least a month, starting with invitations and carefully selecting guests. That means not mixing folk who have vastly opposing opinions and ensuring you have clear arrival and curfew times.
- Consider a theme.
You don’t need to have one as dramatic as ‘James Bond’, say, but you might want to think about bringing a bit of autumnal colour into your room with some relative décor.
- Food and drink.
This is entirely down to you but it’s worth bearing in mind that the actual dining side of things is, arguably, less important than the former details.
- Time your timings.
On the night in question, it’s crucial you plan your timings correctly. Prepare all of your courses in advance, so all you have to do is finish them off, or you’re in for a night of FOMO from your kitchen.
We only got into a handful of new activities to try out in Autumn 2023, but that’s sort of the point. You’re not supposed to bash through a list to just get it out of the way, relax, take your time and enjoy.
Besides, you’ll have plenty of time to do so. Autumn is just the beginning…