One of the things I enjoy is the challenge of Mother Nature.– Nick Wallenda
Continue reading “Monday Morning Grievance: Mother Nature Didn’t Get the Memo”
Monday Morning Grievance: Mother Nature Didn’t Get the Memo
Sunday Snapshots
With midterm grades due Friday and our Veterans’ Day program only days away, I didn’t have much time for taking pictures this week. However, I purposefully took a few hours out of my Saturday to spend some time walking and enjoying the fall weather.
Yesterday, Tryon Palace celebrated All Hallows’ Eve. Since the event is geared for children 12 and under, I simply bought a Gardens Pass – I could enjoy the grounds, see neat costumes, and interact with unique characters. I could not participate in any of the games, make any of the crafts, or partake of any of the “free” refreshments. Ostensibly they were free, but were included in the price of the All Hallows Ticket, so were – in actuality – paid for.
Krystal portrayed a witch:
click to embiggen and scroll through the gallery
Coworker Eliot styled himself “Lord Fall” but I called him Tom Bombadil:
I may have mentioned once or twice before that I simply love the fall. I took advantage of my time at the palace to wander the trails and vegetable gardens largely ignored this time of year. Why they are ignored I have no idea – there is sublime beauty in the temporary death fall brings with it.
click to embiggen and scroll through the gallery
What did you do this week?
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This Rain is Ruining the First Days of Autumn
The rain comes falls down and the water rises up. It was kind of nice at first: a calm, gentle rain – the kind that beats a calming staccato on tin roofs. One week later, the storm is a bad guest that won’t take the hint. It’s October; it’s supposed to be Autumn. Instead of preparing bonfires, raking leaves, and planning pumpkin carving, we should have built an ark. We should have been able to wander about in the cool fall evenings; instead, the parks are closed and I’ve been sent home early due to flooding. Ah well, a longer weekend to prepare for my classes. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll binge on Netflix while power eating my way through our supply of “emergency snacks” and browsing the internet. I may even tackle that reading pile. If the rain keeps up, it’s entirely possible we won’t have school Monday. Thank goodness Hurricane Joaquin has made a right turn into the Atlantic – just so long as he doesn’t gain strength and circle back ’round with a vengeance.
Let It Be Fall
The calendar shows September 23 and marks the Autumnal Equinox, which means it is now officially
Fall
Autumn
Herbst
I love Autumn; I suppose that’s why I’ve been in such a good mood today.
So, to celebrate the start of the best season ever, here’s some reasons I adore the Fall.
Cool Weather for Running
Apples, Apple Orchards, and Apple Pie
Perfect Temperatures for Jeans and T-Shirts
Thanksgiving
Deer Hunting
Reformation Day
Softball
Pumpkins
Leaf Piles
Bonfires
What about you? What do you like about the fall?
Other seasons need not apply.
Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?
Drop a note in the prompt box!
Don’t forget to follow me on:
Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.
Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?
Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.
Requiem
Fall promotes quiet introspection. The frenzy of activity-filled summer “break” is now a distant memory and the “back-to-school” season is over (thankfully). Semester exams are two months away – the distant horizon, as it were. Now is the time to simply be.
I find myself gravitating between several spots:
Sitting in my chair in the living room, wearing my comfy pants and an old hoodie, wrapped in my trusty comforter, and having a cup of coffee close at hand.
Relaxing on my front porch – now the mosquito hordes have abated – enjoying the crisp fall evenings punctuated by the sound of the neighbor kids playing make-believe in the yard next door. Really, they haven’t been that bad since they ran their brand-new four wheeler into our house on Christmas Day.
Meditating in an empty auditorium during some down time. During the week, I take one planning period to specifically not do anything. Even now, I’m waiting for choir practice to start. I’m here several hours early just to take time to mentally relax. It also doesn’t hurt to have WiFi access, but still – I’m not doing anything but write.
Nevertheless, the most relaxing place I can think of is a cemetery. No, I’m not obsessed with death. No, it doesn’t creep me out. I think I can thank my sister for my love of cemeteries – she took me with her as she traced our family tree in rural Pennsylvania. An afternoon of hunting headstones and reading the 100+ year-old epitaphs became something of a ritual. There are several cemeteries in my town: the old Episcopalian cemetery that existed almost before the town, the modern “garden-style” cemetery that has banned headstones, and (my personal favorite) the 19th and 20th century cemetery now famous as the place where television show Sleepy Hollow filmed some burial scenes.
I don’t know where your quiet place is, or if you have one. Wherever it is, take the time to enjoy it.
Astir
The calendar changed today. I suppose there’s nothing inherently special about turning the page of an arbitrary system set up hundreds of years ago. But the fact it’s October 1 means something to me.
You might remember I absolutely love the fall. Perhaps love is too strong; maybe it isn’t strong enough. Something about this time of year really gets me going (in a good way).
As I sit here with my caramel-flavored coffee and Boston Cream doughnut, I can’t help but think of things to come.
Throwback Thursday!Halloween Superstores offer “affordable” costumes and decorations. I never buy anything, but hold out hope that *this year* I’ll find an affordable black cape to complement my plague mask – or as mass commercialism calls it, a “Venetian Masquerade Mask.” Come on marketers – how can you not call it a plague mask? Do you know how many you’d sell?
Pumpkins – need I say more?
The weather becomes cooler and more runner-friendly. Normally I’d be winding down – or up, as the case may be – for a marathon. Unfortunately, I’m not able to afford one this year. That doesn’t mean I still can’t be excited!
Although I haven’t been able to get out hunting for the past few years, I enjoy listening to the tales my students and colleagues bring back from the field. They also bring me venison, so that’s a plus. I’ve earned a reputation for some of the best venison roast around (thanks, Dad!).
Not mine, but similar.Apple pie made from fresh, orchard-grown apples. Again, I don’t mean to brag – all right, in this case I do – but I make some of the best apple pie you’ll ever have. I make the dough from scratch and make my own filling with a secret blend of apples and spices. You can’t just throw any old apple in a pie, you know. Well, I suppose you can, but it won’t taste good. Sorry, that’s just how it is.
Fall Festivals, Harvest Festivals, Corn Mazes – Yes! (Just say “NO!” to the fair!)
Reformation Day – come on now, you must have figured out I celebrate it!
And that’s just events in October; November offers a whole other month of wonderful fall bliss!
Happy Autumn, Everyone!
Running In My Head 