Happy October!!!

Hey Everybody!

Fall is here, and I have to say it's hands down my favorite time of year. There is something very mysterious and forward-moving to this season. Anything is possible, or seems that way. So, bear with my following stream of consciousness as I explain...

I had it pointed out to me that in my area, it's a time of death: everything is just going brown or grey, and fog can hang in for long periods of time. These people, oddly, are the ones who work in basement offices. And yes, they do have a point. Things are 'dying' or at least are losing their summer colors. It's getting cold, and the wind can be relentless.

But this is also the last season of harvest in the area.

The dying colors mean that farmers can get one of the few incomes available to them; some farms only get two or three crops a year, which means only two or three paychecks a year. Even with large farms that diversify, money is tight. Being raised here there is something satisfying about seeing a brown, cropped field shorn of all plants and knowing that somebody did well. It's a good feeling knowing they didn't loose all their work, time, and expenditure to hail, pests, or drought. Milo is one of my favorite crops, as you can see from the photo, it looks like a sand dune or a painting after it's cut.

So, yes, it's a good time of year. My classes are about halfway over, and soon I will be done, which is exciting. (math...a rant for another time...) I have another book draft complete and ready to edit. Cheer for me my people!

There are some sad things personally: I'm getting older, family is getting older, it's the time of year I cross off the names of people who've passed away and I can't send a Christmas card to. Time is going far too quickly, and all that I can do is work towards goals, praying I get there before it's too late. Thing is, that happens at all times of the year, I just have more reminders in the fall.

I'm not saying that to be a downer, far from it. It's to point out that I understand why folks don't like this time of year.

But, the leaves were always orange and yellow, they simply had a green mask on all summer. the buffalo grass isn't pretty, but we know it'll be back stronger than ever in the spring.

The people who pretended this was a 'nice place' now call it 'ugly' as they pass through, not bothering to look past the paved road. Or, friends I haven't seen in ages offer to drop everything and be here if I need them...for no reason at all.

Masks come off, true colors show for better or worse. This is the time of year when there is something of a metamorphosis in people as well as the landscape. As I said, it's a chance at adventures, small and large...mostly very small...but those are memories, are they not?

So, go try the new coffee place, have a 3 am text debate, try a new hobby, take a walk in the other direction, and enjoy a few minutes of the only October that will happen in 2018!!!