Turning the Corner

The calendar page has turned to October and the weather is obeying the numbers. The air is charged with that delicious Fall chill, walking back to the house from the bus last night, it was dark at 7:30pm and writing this on a 7am morning, the light is just beginning to emerge. It’s October. 

Fall has long been one of my favorite seasons, that slight melancholy of the approaching winter darkness festive with turning leaves and turning to that indoor coziness of thick bean soups and gratitude for shelter and warmth. Halloween beckons at the far end, school is deep in its rhythmic groove with classes bubbling along and kids still with fresh but now settled into the flow. The Festival life of San Francisco continues with Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Sea Shanty sings, great shows at SF Jazz and of course, Halloween madness. Trader Joe’s is awash with 50 different things to do with pumpkin and the Farmer’s Market is bursting with the Autumnal Harvest. The sweaters come out of the closet, the short-sleeves shirts get pushed to the back—though not too far, as San Francisco has been known for its Summer in October days.

“Something to look forward to” is one of the three secrets to a well-lived life and this October, I’m hoping to hold my 9^thbook in my hands. I’ll finally get to see the show Hamilton on the occasion of my 40^thwedding anniversary. I’ll return to my college in Ohio and teach a guest music/ education class. I’ll be reading my annual Fall Dickens novel, a tradition I’ve passed over these last three years. I’ll tune in to the news awaiting the jubilant announcement that that lying scoundrel who betrayed our country on multiple fronts will get his sorry butt impeached, three years overdue. 

And I’ll listen again to October Song, that old Incredible String Band mini-masterpiece and be lifted back to that timeless time of my first semester at college, return to that sense of a life ahead awaiting me with infinite promise even as the days behind far outnumber my days ahead. In the Autumn of my life and determined to display that blaze of life-affirming color and savor each bite of a crisp Fall apple. On we go!