Enjoying the season

I love autumn. I love October. I love writing O-c-t-o-b-e-r - the loop of the Os like the "O" in Olivier, the "c" and the "e" and "b-e-r" that signals the start of school, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's one of my favoritist months ever.

September is the beginning - the run up to the fun holiday season. The temperature drops - not too much in L.A., but still enough to have an edge. The air takes on a different smell. Perfect time (not too hot) to go to a renaissance faire whilst dressed in costume.

Then October. Again - the loops - O-c-t-o-b-e-r. The very sound of the words brings to mind orange and black and brown. It's actually cool enough to wear the new clothes you bought in August and September at Fall sales - to consider the boots, have a little heavier hand on the makeup, be more dramatic. Halloween and spooky movies, crisp apples, orange pumpkins, acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash, and in some places Dias de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations with all the pomp and circumstance.

After all the drama of October, it's easy think of autumn as over, completely pass over the rest of the dying season onto winter and Christmas (it's what many retailers would like us to do). But autumn will last for at least a month and a half more. November, though a harsher month with darker colors, still has its autumn gifts to give. Piles of brown leaves, cooling weather, rain and snow and wind. Weather! And of course a holiday all its own that reminds us to be thankful for friends, family, a roof over our heads and warm food in our tummies - if we can get it. Rich foods, nuts, meats, pies and wine. November - try writing that out. N-o-v-e-m-b-e-r - like a novena, a prayer, or a novice, a beginner. November is the beginning of the end of the year, and it is beautiful in the dying of the year's light.

And of course it leads right on up to the season of lights - to December - St. Nicholas' Day, Advent, Hanukkah, Christmas, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, New Years Eve, and all the celebrations of life and light in the middle of darkness and death.

The point is, each time of the season has its own reason to be enjoyed, to be celebrated, to be reveled in. Take the time to enjoy each part of the journey through the year.

And (now for a word from our sponsor) if you're looking for a little autumnal reading, might I suggest "Needs Must When the Devil Drives," the story of a woman who takes a few days off with her dog during the cool autumn days to figure out her life, only find out it's the end of the world. Or, try checking "UnCommon Faire: A Fiction Sideshow," my collection of previously published short stories.

And enjoy your autumn.