Tag: Autumn

  • The Pumpkin Blaze

    There is an annual Autumn/Halloween event that my family takes part in, which is The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze at Croton-on-Hudson. My wife was the one who found out about it, and when my parents came to visit back in 2017, she got tickets for all of us. It was perfect for everyone, as we were new parents with a one year old, and the pumpkins were just flashing lights to our daughter, and that captivated her attention. And for my folks, it was just enough walking, and also something rather unique that they didn’t have in Texas. After walking through the Blaze, we drove down to Tarrytown for dinner, and then showed my parents the real Sleepy Hollow, along with the bridge and the Old Dutch Church of Headless Horseman fame. Since then, we try to make it out to The Blaze every year.

    This year was no different. Got tickets, and made plans with another family to all go together. Like most years, things happened and we left late. Traffic was awful getting out of the city. We were all late getting to the restaurant, and had to eat quickly. Luckily, the kids were all in a good mood – no melt downs.

    And it was worth it. The kid is getting old enough now that none of the jack o’lantens are scary to her, and even some of the joke carved pumpkins she gets and finds funny. There is still enough innocent excitement with her there that makes the experience special, and also transforms Halloween into more than one night of fun, but a season of events. (We apple pick, and visit a pumpkin patch as part of our Halloween traditions as well.)

    For me, I enjoy this night of being close to Sleepy Hollow, and the historic location where The Blaze takes place. Something about driving home through the woods of Westchester county, knowing that somewhere out there the Horseman is supposed to ride, and like clockwork every year, the kid asks from the backseat if Ichabod was a real person who escaped from that ghost. And then there is the connection of The Blaze being an event my mom was able to do with my family. We only got three years with her, to do grandma things, and let her shower her youngest granddaughter with attention. The kid has virtually no memories left with her Mim, but I have this one. And though my daughter doesn’t remember doing it, she was one after all, but she knows that it happened. We just continue on the tradition.

  • An Autumn Music Break

    Bit of a Bisy Backson Day…

  • GOURDS!

    I bought gourds this morning at Trader Joe’s. You know, the Fall/Autumn/Halloween gourds that come out on October 1st, and are sold through Thanksgiving. Well, it was two tiny pumpkins and a gourd to be exact, but as I get deeper into the season, I will buy more of these. I wouldn’t call it a weakness, but it is the one seasonal decoration that I indulge.

    Soon, most likely this weekend, we’ll go to our storage space and get the box of Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations to put up. Most of what is in there are silly, kid-like things to put up. Also in that box, there is a collection of dollar store small glittery pumpkins. Soon our kitchen table will be a collection of both real and fake gourds. You know, how the Pilgrims intended.

    When the kid was little, two or three, she would paint the white pumpkins to add to the decorations. I don’t think she does that anymore. And I start to wonder how long we’ll keep decorating the apartment with these cartoonish and child-like decorations?

    My parents kept reusing all the old holiday decorations until I went away to college. With me, the final child was out of the house, so my mom decided that it was time to have more grown up decorations for all the holidays. Gone were the doe-eyed cats and bats, to be replaced with wreaths of fake orange leaves and gourds. (But her gourds were plastic and ceramic.) Christmas even got more mature with an all-white lights on an all-white tree. You get the idea…

    I have a feeling we’ll do the same thing when our kid heads out of here, to college or where ever.

    But I like my gourds.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Autumn Morning, Lunch with Friends, and Sports Season

    (In this house, we narrate the dog’s thoughts.)

    Finally, and I mean FINALLY, it was an Autumn Morning around here in New York City. It was in the upper fifties, there was a breeze, you could put a sweater on – all the boxes were checked. For me, a person who hates the heat and humidity of Summer, this was like my birthday and Christmas morning all wrapped in one. Now we can turn the A/C’s off, leave the windows open, hell, maybe even have a cup of hot tea in the afternoon, but that one might still be a month off. Anyway, the season has changed. We are no longer stuck in something, but moving towards something different, and new.

    The other day, a friend from college was in town, and we got together for lunch. This particular friend I hadn’t seen in close to ten years, so I was looking forward to catching up. It was a good time, and I wish it could have been longer, but we made the most of what we had. As I get older, and have more of these catchups with friends, I am still impressed with how much people can change, while at the same time still stay that core person I met twenty years ago.

    It’s sports season for me, which on some level still feels odd for me to say. Growing up, my identity was brooding artist, so I couldn’t like sports. I have evolved out of that (A story for another day) and now I find myself enjoying the sports time of year. The Premiere League has started, as has the NFL. And let’s not forget about the Champions League and all of their exciting corrupt bullshit that is amazing to watch. Baseball is heading for the playoffs, and I will flirt around with following the Knicks, but I never go through with it. As I was sketching out this idea, I started wondering why have I latched on to sports so much in the last ten years? What is it about being middle aged and following as many different competitions as possible? I wonder if there is something to not wanting to admit that the people playing all of these sports are half my age, and by living through their accomplishments, I attempt to regain youthful physicality? Ha! I was never physical! I think it’s because sports are the only appointment TV left.

  • ODDS and ENDS: The End of Summer, Disc Golf, and My Phone Says I’m Healthy

    (You’ll find it funny later…)

    Labor Day is Monday, and as such, Autumn begins on Tuesday. Happy Fall, Ya’ll! I am going to try very hard to not talk about the weather like the old man I am slowly evolving into. (Even though we are about to enter nine days of high heat in the City!) We made it to the start of September, and as soon as Labor day is concluded, the marathon to New Year begins; such is the cycle. Our lives have always been like this, but when we added a kid to the mix, and especially when she started school, it has taken on a stronger relevance in our lives. Labor Day means the start of school, and it takes time for us to get back to that flow of life. Soon, the kid will start talking about Halloween costumes, and apple picking will be scheduled. We’ll fit in a final hike before it starts to get too cold, so we can enjoy the leaves changing color. Then the planning of Thanksgiving starts, and the hope of Christmas is never too far away. Autumn never comes fast enough and it never last long enough.

    I like disc golf. I’m not good at it, and I don’t do it often enough, but it’s an activity that I look forward to doing. I have mention before how I have started watching disc golf tournaments on YouTube, and I even got the UDisc app for my phone, so I am making an effort to be more involved. The newest thought I have been percolating on is attending a local tournament, something that I could drive to, and back in one day. I am curious to see how these things are run. You know, what is it like?

    My phone noticed that I have been more active of late. And like all good friends, it has started encouraging me to keep it going. I have been walking more in the City., that’s true. When I had a job where I went to an office, I walked between 9,000 to 10,0000 steps a day during the week. When Covid hit, I dropped down to an average of 4,000 steps a day. (I can’t prove it, but this might be part of the reason I put on twenty pounds. Just a thought.) With the kid back in school, and walking to drop her off and pick her up, my new weekday average is over 10,000 steps. This is a good thing, and adding that I have returned to the gym, I’m moving in a healthier direction. But my phone has interpreted this development in activity as an invitation to start giving more advice about how I should eat, sleep, and other things to make me “healthier.” The phone is coming on a little too strong. I just want to be friends with “healthier,” not looking for a commitment. Maybe if I drop twenty pounds, we can talk. Until then, I’m just having fun.