October

Fall was making its presence known even before this past Sunday, October 1st. About a week and a half ago I noticed pine needles beginning to cover the driveway, then the front yard. For me, growing up in a pine woods there was no surer sign of fall than pine needles falling. Even more than leaves, pine needles on the ground means autumn is knocking on the door and I’m there to happily let it in.

Today will be the last, truly warm day with temps getting into the mid-80s. Tomorrow we go from mid-80s to a high of 70 degrees and rain. Bring it on. This weekend we see highs in the 50s with lows in the 40s.

It’s the shift in the weather I feel the most; physically, mentally, and emotionally. I’ve always been that way, too. I was always a fall kid, more comfortable in sweatshirts, flannels, and jeans. The crunch of leaves under my shoes as I walked the trails behind my parents house soothed me. I couldn’t put it into words at 10 years old, but now I know there was something meditative about the sound. It was still meditative when just a couple years later I’d be walking those trails with headphones over my ears as I listened to Van Halen, Motley Crue, and Metallica on my Walkman.

The cooler weather is easier on the mind and body. That goes for the humans and the four-legged variety in the house. Otto, our mini schnauzer, turned 13 this past Monday. He’s the resident old dude now. Despite his Yoda-like age he still gets along pretty decent. He doesn’t hear as well as he used to(well, selective hearing I think), and his eyesight seems to be selective as well. He can still look out the front door and see the neighbors walking in their living room across the street and bark like mad, yet a blueberry less than a foot from his face he walks on by. Still, I’m thankful for the spunk and still puppy-like qualities he shows at such an old age.

He can’t take walks when its too hot. Takes it out of him, kind of like me. I drove home after work with the windows down yesterday. Felt nice at first, but halfway home I felt like I was driving home in a microwave. I turned the A/C on at that point, but it was too late. By the time I got home I felt like a hot potato with a headache. Downed some ice water and watched Ahsoka as opposed to going for my afternoon walk.

Fall is my time. Of course because of Halloween and all the wonderful horrors that come with it; horror movies, trick-or-treating, earlier sunsets, and the crispness in the air. The fiery colors the sun creates when it comes down on the brown, yellow, and orange leaves is nothing short of beautiful. But what I love even more than sunny fall days is overcast, steely gray fall days. That look in the sky that says “Yeah, I could possibly snow. You just never know” intermingling with the sound of the wind shaking transitioning leaves from summer hues to fall. It’s something I look forward to every year, and one I mourn when its gone.

Sunday I spent a couple hours outside. First I was on the roof using the leaf blower to clean the pine needles from the shingles, then from the gutters. Once I got down to clean off the driveway, front porch, and back porch my leaf blower died. No grand exit, just the “click, click, click” sound of me turning it off and on five or six times, but to no avail. I can’t really complain. The blower is on the downhill slide to 30 years old. It was a birthday gift from my dad I received in 1997 after we’d moved into the house. A power tool that lasts that long is kind of an anomaly these days. They’re made to last 5, maybe 10 years tops. At which time you get mad and make the trek to Lowes or Ace Hardware and buy another.

Anyways, I used my push broom to finish the work then mowed the yard. Instead of going to town to buy a new blower I let Jeff Bezos do all the work. I ordered a Black and Decker leaf blower(same brand as my old one) and it arrived yesterday. They’re so much smaller than they used to be.

Fall also means Boards of Canada season. I mean, it’s BoC season year-round, but especially in the fall. The down tempo vibes, ghostly voice samples, and vintage synth sounds fill me with all kinds of nostalgia. They make music that seems to emanate from some other time. A timeline where childhood memories become ghosts that walk with you, talk with you, and remind you subtly that you’re getting older. It’s the perfect salve to temper the stings and burns from the outside world.

Along with BoC I’m breaking out some of my favorite horror soundtracks as well. Halloween III : Season Of The Witch, House Of The Devil, Phantasm, House By The Cemetery, Southbound, and the Evil Dead(re-recorded one from a few years back) to name but a few. Carpenter’s Christine and The Fog as well.

My son and I share a love for these scores. He’d get as excited as I did when they’d arrive from places like Mondo, Death Waltz, and Waxwork Records. The boy was around 8-years old when I first started collecting seriously, so he came up knowing what those square, cardboard boxes were that sat on the porch, newly delivered via USPS or UPS. He learned early the proper way to drop the needle on the wax, careful not to get too close to the edge or too far in so as not to miss those opening notes. And he was always careful to clean any lint off the needle of the Ortofon Red, while carefully using the lint brush to clear off any dust or debris from the record.

The soundtracks are our thing, and I’ll never tire of spinning spooky scores.

When the kids were younger October meant Halloween was just around the corner. Elementary school Halloween parties, trick-or-treating, and the candy bartering sessions that came once everyone returned from their smelling of feet and giving of goods to eat house to house. Once the hauls were counted we usually ended up in the living room watching a horror movie. Even at young ages the kids loved horror movies. I think watching Simpsons’ ‘Treehouse Of Horror’ episodes as little ones primed them for the real thing(thanks Matt Groening.)

Mostly, fall and the beginning of October is the time clock to the end of the year. That’s where the race to year’s end begins. I mean, it begins on January 1st if we’re honest. Always running that race to the end; be it the end of the year, decade, or the “big” end. The one that sees us in a pine box and a few loved ones struggling to remember anything about us while a guy in a cheap tie and Men’s Warehouse suit says vaguely personal things at the pulpit, while trying to bring in new congregation members via subliminal sales pitch(avoid damnation, coffee bar, brand new activity center for kids.)

So wherever you’re at, enjoy the last days of summer-ish weather if that’s your thing. Me? I’m counting the minutes to flannel season and spooky flicks. Apple cider(hot or cold it’s delicious), brisk porch hangs, dwindling light in the early evening, and flickering scented candles as I watch Dawn of the Dead and Hell House LLC for the umpteenth time. I’m not excited about cleaning up pine needles every couple days until November, but that’s the price you pay for the dying beauty of fall and October.

I’m gonna savor this October, maybe even more than I have in the past. Why? I don’t know, I guess it just feels like one I really need to savor. I’ll be 50 in less than two months, so if 40 is over the hill then 50 must be at the bottom and looking up. And those climbs aren’t any easier nowadays.

Happy Fall, folks.