Autumn and All the Wonders of October

18 October 2016

You have chosen . . . well, I suppose YOU didn’t really choose the date yourself . . . but that’s whatever . . . so we’ll just say . . . you were CHOSEN to arrive in what I consider the most perfect month of the year! Actually, oddly, that sounds like your mom and dad ordered you off a menu . . . technology pretty much has us to that point, but I hope that morality never allows us, as humans, to pick and choose exactly what we’d like our children to look like! Could you imagine?!?!?

What is it about Autumn?

When I lived out west, there wasn’t a season I didn’t love . . . mostly because the air was so dry! Humidity is the one thing about the Eastern Seaboard that I just don’t care much about . . . AT ALL! Makes me feel like I need gills sometimes . . .

In reality, I do love the changing seasons, but when October arrives in Tennessee, I feel like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis . . . wings drying in the crisp, cool air . . . ready for whatever adventure might present itself. It’s also when work slows down for me . . . the kids are all caught up in their studies (or each other) . . . or they’re out enjoying hiking and biking . . . the point being, they’re not in my office all day long! I’ve scheduled my vacation during this month for years . . . and because you’re arriving in October, I’m looking forward (if your mom won’t mind too much) to taking you with me sometimes!

So what is it? Of course there are the usual things EVERYONE seems to love: hoodies or sweaters, boots, jeans, s’mores, pumpkins, the leaves changing colors, cooler air, fires, hot cocoa, apples . . .

My favorite thing to do is really just to drive . . . I’ve always loved driving . . . from the moment I first got my license that’s been it! Long before I was married or had children, my adventures started with a coin . . . heading out I’d pre-determine the time for the drive, when I came to my first turning point, I’d stop and toss the coin . . . “heads” meant a right turn, “tails” meant a left. The amount of time allotted dictated the distance traveled . . . sometimes I’d wind up staying close to home . . . other times I’d be in unknown territory and have to use a map to find my way back! Back then life wasn’t so crazy either . . . well, there were certainly crazy people, and maybe I just got lucky . . . but nobody ever bothered me if I wound up sleeping in my truck. You probably won’t be able to get away with it in your world . . . it was just a different time.

To drive in Autumn . . . slowly . . . down The Tail of the Dragon in Tennessee . . . through the Hudson Valley in New York . . . up the death-defying winding roads in Montana . . . hugging the northern coast of California’s PCH  . . . a myriad of colors . . . Maples, Oaks, Aspens . . . windows down . . . the scent of pine or salt or smoke from someone’s chimney . . . watching the fallen leaves get caught up in the car’s draft! There’s nothing quite like it!

Storm King - New York

Campfires! Sitting close to one . . . watching flames of red, gold, blue licking logs as they’re gently placed in the ring . . . sending sparks into the night sky! The heat of it battling the frigid air behind you . . .  you have to turn to warm each part of your body. Chocolate pieces waiting patiently on squares of graham crackers . . . waiting for you to add that perfectly toasted marshmallow . . . the one that catches fire at the very second you look away . . . but you eat it anyway! The smell of smoke . . . getting caught up in your clothes . . . making your eyes heavy as if it lulling you to sleep.

Sweaters, jeans and boots . . . the only acceptable uniform of Fall . . . something about wearing boots just screams Autumn! Or maybe you’ll be a sweatshirt kind of guy . . . donning one before heading out for a bike ride down the Virginia Creeper . . . a game of pick-up football with the guys . . . or a lazy hay ride with your favorite girl, sipping hot cocoa from the thermos she packed just for this occasion. Hoodies offer a most cozy feeling when the first chill of the season fills the air.

I’ve picked apples from states all over this country . . . and there’s no doubt they are most delicious snagged straight from the tree! From the Cascade Mountains in Washington state where I found what Golden Delicious apples were SUPPOSED to taste like (not those from a grocery store as they are never crisp) to New York’s lush apple valleys where Galas are so juicy . . .  even Tennessee and Georgia grow their own. An apple, covered in caramel, is a true delight and quite a treat at Halloween. You might prefer one with a hard candy shell . . . the sugar running down your chin as your teeth crunch into the flesh of the apple. Freshly made apple butter to spread on your biscuits . . . apple pie, so warm it melts the ice cream scooped on top. Apple cider to warm your bones after a hike up Mt LeConte. Yeah, definitely apples!

And who doesn’t love the Halloween season?!?! Carving pumpkins . . . roasting the seeds scooped from the guts of it! Dressing up as a super hero . . . ninja . . . or the character from your favorite cartoon and skipping through neighborhoods in search of the houses that hand out full sized candy bars . . . avoiding the ones that handed out toothbrushes last year! Watching the Peanut’s special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” from year to year . . . because your Yaya makes you . . . because you’re just supposed to humor her . . . because she doesn’t like scary movies!

It’s the perfect time to head up to Buck Bald in Coker Creek or Bandelier National Park near Santa Fe . . . to watch the sun set . . . the sky and earth on fire with color . . . fading to black as the full moon rises overhead . . . when suddenly a million stars appear overhead and you can identify Ursa Major and Minor, Andromeda, Orion . . . your own sign . . . are you a Libra or Scorpio (we’re still waiting for your arrival)? Maybe you’ll get lucky and see a shooting star (be sure to make a wish if you do) . . . or the Perseid meteors . . . 

October Full Moon on Buck Bald

I do hope you come to love October as much as I do!

“Magnificent Autumn! He comes not like a pilgrim, clad in russet weeds. He comes not like a hermit, clad in gray. But he comes like a warrior, with the stain of blood upon his brazen mail. His crimson scarf is rent.... The wind.... wafts to us the odor of forest leaves that hang wilted on the dripping branches, or drop into the stream. Their gorgeous tints are gone, as if the autumnal rains had washed them out. Orange, yellow, and scarlet, all are changed to one melancholy russet hue.... There is a melancholy and continual roar in the tops of the tall pines.... It is the funeral anthem of the dying year.” ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow