Fall and Winter coming

After a long weekend in the mountains above Blue Ridge, waking up to the sun rising orange over the mountains and the fog rising up from the valleys below us, we had just begun to see the leaves turning color on the trees. We drove home on Sunday. The turning of the leaves had been a small part of the enjoyment of our trip.

Then Monday rolled around and the other side of Autumn came to visit: dark, grey clouds and drizzle from morning to sunset. With the exception of Wednesday, we have been covered with grey flannel skies all week and it appears that it will continue at least until sometime tomorrow.

Don't get me wrong. Fall drizzle and clouds have been with me since I was old enough to be aware of the weather. It is part of the season. But on the other hand, I do remember those Autumn afternoons in Virginia when I was in college and the air was cool and dry and the sun reflected off the orange and crimson leaves on the trees around the campus. It was what made the season sublime.

It will only be awhile before we get to that point in late November and early December when the air turns dry again and the leaves have left the trees and you can travel through the world of early Winter and see the dying light of day creating silhouettes with the bare trees and the pines against the western sky. Feeling the warmth from the heater in the car and catching sight of the art of Early December.

It brings me comfort in a comfortless time of year.

October is upon us

The rust of Autumn is attacking the leaves on the dogwoods and maples. Beginning tomorrow or Saturday the high temperatures are supposed to be in the high 70's. Lows should be getting down in the forties. The coolness of the dying year will soon be upon us and we will have those days where the morning is chill, with an afternoon warmth followed by a new chill as the evening brings its darkness. Deutsches bier weather. A good time for flagons of ale and sausages with potatoes and cabbage. A trip to Helen, the ficticious Alpine village in north Georgia. Day dying in the western mountains.

Next weekend we will be traversing up to Blue Ridge for a weekend in the mountains of Union County. Buying fresh apples and apple bread and pumpkins and cinnamon spices in the air. Checking the effect of the passing clouds and the sun on the ridges of the mountains surrounding us. Reading a book in a rocking chair. Chasing the raccoons down the road. The light from the headlights reflecting in the eyes of the possums and other critters.

I have a hard time picking between Spring and Autumn. Then again, there are some wonderful things about Summer and Winter, as well.

September sunshine

The sun is high in the early afternoon sky. Soft fleecy clouds hang in the baby blue above. The humidity which hung heavily in the first part of the week is gone now. The temperature is in the low eighties today. Kate is coming home for the weekend. I am travelling to Columbus this afternoon. I hope to return early enough to eat seafood with Cindy and Kate at Sixth Street Pier. I look forward to the rest of the afternoon and the weekend. Its good to have the whole family reunited.

Tomorrow, Carolyn Jones will be married in the grass behind the Buggs' house. We will eat barbecue and enjoy friends and family. The visit from Kate will be over too soon.

Tripping

I am wishing I could be in Lexington this weekend. Watching football and enjoying the scenery and walking around campus at W&L. Rediscovering old mental photos in the album of my brain. Wishing I could do something to show the value of my education. Enjoying the Virginia.

Local Eating

I am sitting here watching Anthony Bourdain walking around the city of New Orleans, my adopted third home (after Christian County-Montgomery County and Dunwoody), enjoying the culture and food of New France. He was talking with a writer/author who was lauding the ability of the Cajun/creole folks to hold on to their food culture. Lately, I have been enjoying Restauants in Atlanta and even at Callaway Gardens where they specialize in local foods and dishes maybe tweaked a bit. Georgia white shrimp is my favorite. But I was thinking about the movie, "The Help" and for some reason thought of a story my grandmother told about a place out in the county in Montgomery County, where African-Americans went to eat good food, drink, listen to music, fight, dance and have a good time. Apparently, there was a door on the side, where white folks went to get takeout. The irony is contained in the idea of a place where the whites couldn't go inside, but, instead, drove up and were served around the side. Just one spot where the usual segregated world was turned upside down. I also was thinking about smoked pork and country ham and peas and butter beans and watermelon pickles and my grandmother's biscuits, which I swear I will replicate some day. Real local Western Kentucky/Middle Tennessee food. I got to get me some!

A simple pleasure, recaptured

Yesterday morning, I spent most of the morning at the Georgia Bone & Joint offices in Newnan. I was there to see the orthopeadic surgeon to determine whether he would cut the cast off my arm and leave it off. As it turned out, he decided it was time to free my left arm from its bondage, so I drove back to Griffin, sans cast, and have spent the subsequent hours trying to get used to life without the big blue cast on my left arm.

As it turns out, the arm hurts more without the cast than with it. I may be wearing the splint I purchased at the beginning of this travail, just to give me some support and comfort. However, I am happy to get the opportunity, probably this weekend, to swim in a swimming pool and enjoy the only part of summer left untested. This morning, I was able to floss my teeth, shower without a plastic bag over my left arm, and feel confident that I was able to bathe and soap every part of my body.

One part still unresolved: wearing a wristwatch with a metal band is still difficult. I think I will wear a leather band for awhile.

Tonight, I drive to Ellerslie and back for a closing. I am back to being an accepted vendor for one of the title companies. Yay!

The Last Fall of College

When I was a Senior in college, during my last season of football, I would walk over to the gymnasium on late Sunday afternoons and sit in a hot whirlpool tub in my gym shorts for about an hour until my right knee felt loose. Usually, my buddy, Don Crossley would be in one of the other whirlpools. On the following Monday afternoon I would walk over to the lockerroom at Wilson Field, the old football stadium, after class, and paint my knee with atomic balm, a really hot, viscuous liquid liniment. It was dark orange-red and fragrant. When I pulled my knee brace over the knee, I would feel a comfortable heat on my knee which would last throughout the week. As we went through drills in preparation for the week's game, my knee would swell and feel more stable from the fluid.

After the game on Saturday afternoon, I would be bruised and swollen all over. After spending an afternoon of watching pro football on tv, trying to avoid having to watch the Redskins, who we all hated in my dorm apartment, Don and I would walk back to the trainer's room in the gym and start the process all over again.

My parents came to every game that year, as they had during my junior year. They got to travel to a lot of places, big and small: Sewanee, Tennessee; Danville, Kentucky; Georgetown, D.C.; Davidson, North Carolina; Emory, Virginia; Maryville, Tennessee. A few others I don't remember. Nice weekend trips in the Fall of the year; I hope they enjoyed the trips. It was an odd season. We had knew coaches. We worked harder. We felt like we were making progress, even if we were still losing most of our games. I still liked it. I look back on it fondly. My friends, coaches, trainers, professors and such. An Autumn thirty seven years ago. Man, I am old.