“There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir, We must rise and follow her; When from every hill of flame, She calls and calls each vagabond by name”
~William Bliss Carman
I have been hearing that call for some time now, haven’t you? Post-season baseball, fresh apple cider, haunted evenings, starlit nights, the orange glow of dying leaves and maturing pumpkins…could the promises whispered on the autumn winds be more enticing? Certainly not for me.
“October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book.”
September has gone and with it the first month of the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event. For those of you participating, I’m hoping you are enjoying yourself. If you haven’t signed up yet for R.I.P. VII, what are you waiting for? I finished 6 books in September, 5 of which counted for R.I.P.
I started the month with an 8 mile trail run and finished it with a 4.4 mile trail run. And in between I did A Lot of training runs, long and short. I haven’t been keeping up with my weekly reports but rest assured that I have been keeping up with my strength training and my running. I have a 5K trail run near the end of October followed by the Rugged Maniac event on the last weekend of the month. And a couple of weeks after that comes the half-marathon.
Also attended our local Fall Festival and the always-inspiring KC Plaza Art Fair in September. It really was a great month.
“October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen. It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again.”
~Hal Borland
In addition to the overall R.I.P. event, the start of October marks the beginning of:
All will prove to be fun events and I hope you’ll check them out and consider joining in with us.
“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!”~Humbert Wolfe
Welcome October! I am so happy that you are here and plan to savor every moment of your annual visit.
Oh I can’t tell you how happy I am to have October here too!!! It’s my absolute most favorite month of the year and I’m looking forward to lapping up every single second of it!!! And we’re scheduled to have a high of 73 degrees tomorrow!! It’s going to be wonderful 😀 AND I might actually complete the RIP challenge :p I think I’m only just one book away! Yes…I shall. Hoping to find lots of October-ish things to do this month!
That sounds like a lovely temp to start the month. Hope you have other fall-like weather as it proceeds. Was thinking about you yesterday while watching the Saints lose yet another game. How frustrating. Brees and Graham are doing my right each week in Fantasy Football but it is sad to keep seeing them lose when they have that much talent on offense. They’ve got to get some defensive help.
Congrats on being so close to finishing R.I.P.! I hope to get much more reading and viewing in this month.
I absolutely love the photo of the book and leaves! I miss the seasons more than I could ever put into words… I won’t say I liked the Loooooong winter in states where it seems to go on forever but I do miss the first snowfall and the first “real snow”.. (after that spring could come asap lol)
I have passed the one book I said I would read for RIP and working on book 4 (I think) which is a reread of the nearly 800 pgs of Drood! (does that count as at least 2 books? lol)
This morning I posted on fb and tumblr a full fall moon. Now if the humidity would just go away I’d be super happy lol
I dont’ think a Fall goes by that I don’t wish I could take a “walk in the woods” and hear the dried leaves beneath my feet.. but dried fronds just don’t do it.. and snakes don’t hibernate here, so I’ll skip that.. although they are almost finished making a small “walking path” close by maybe one day I will check it out.
*I keep having this dream: that I walk a mile on the Appalachian Trail*
I know, aren’t those great photos? I wish I had taken them myself. No beautiful autumn leaves like that around here yet, and given our long drought all summer I doubt we’ll have a lovely autumn from a color standpoint. Very sad about that.
I’m hoping for a long winter myself, but I know I’m in the very small minority with that. I think most of my friends just shake their head and sigh, realizing just how crazy I am.
Drood should count as 2.5 books in my opinion, lol!
We had such a gorgeous moon overhead at 6 a.m. when we were out in the dark marking the trail on Saturday. It was amazing. Hiking out there with just a headlamp on and the glowing moon, seeing your breath in front of your face but being ‘cool’ and not ‘cold’ was all a great experience.
Speaking of the Appalachian Trail, have you read Bryson’s book A Walk in the Woods. It is all about hiking that trail. It was a good one.
ah yes, I have read Bryson’s book lol.I am most envious of him having actually walked quite a bit of the Trail. If i can find a way (both financially and someone to care for Booboo, who is not friendly and has to have a steriod pill every other day) I am seriously wanting to “walk a mile” in North Carolina with a young lady friend of mine who is a friend from high school of my youngest sons. although very doubtful I can accomplish this..I am trying to work towards it for next spring or fall.
Me too, I think it would be a lot of fun. Although I wouldn’t want to go on it with the kind of friend he did. 🙂
I think that is a great goal and I hope that works out for you. It would mean a lot to both you and your friend, I would imagine.
As soon as the cool weather of fall hits I start anticipating our October anniversary weekend.
This year is already looking to be a beautiful fall!
That will be here before you know it! Hope the weather is lovely for you both on your stay-cation. We are going to do one of those this November instead of our usual cabin trip. Want to spend our money re-doing the back room (and we started by buying some furniture for it this past weekend).
I’m looking forward to seeing the changes!
We decided to spend our anniversary money doing stuff instead of on an expensive hotel this year.
I think you’ll be glad you did.
I’m going to clean up the office today and take some ‘before’ pictures so that I can do a blog post once it is all done and is ready for the ‘after’ pictures.
Fall is THE best time of year! I wish I lived in an area with more fall color, but at least I can enjoy it vicariously from other people’s pictures (like those here).
Last month I read a Stephen King short story and 3 Agatha Christie mysteries. This month I’m reading The Graveyard Book, more Stephen King, and — for the classic science fiction group, but it also fits here — Frankenstein. October promises to be a wonderfully exciting and creepy month!
You’ve done some great reading for R.I.P. And very cool that you joined the Classic SF Book Club at this time especially since Frankenstein ends up doing double duty. 🙂
It does promise to be a great month!
I think Autumn/Fall is possibly my favourite season. Time for soup, blankets, hot chocolate, fireworks, and scary stories. I might have to crack open my new Stephen King book. Happy Reading!
It certainly is mine, Jessica, as well as that transition to winter (if there is snow).
King is of course perfect for this time of year.
October is easily one of my all-time favorite months. the weather is [usually] perfect, so are the trees…and all mention of yummy baking and hot drinks start appearing everywhere I look.
I could see this as a wonderful time to be in good shape for running. October is a month I find it easiest to be out and about…maybe a hold over for preparing myself for the long treks about the neighborhood trick-or-treating at the end of the month?
Our October has been absolutely lovely these past two days. Unbelievably so. I’m in heaven.
And yes, I’ve seen lots of tempting food and drink of the kind that sounds so tasty this time of year.
It has been gorgeous this whole last month out running. I’ve run in the dark just before dawn several times and the weather has been perfect.
Sounds like you’re off to a lovely start for October, and that makes me very happy indeed, for if anyone deserves a wonderful fall it’s you considering all the joy you bring to everyone else. My biggest hope for the month is to just slow down enough to remember to enjoy it. 🙂
I’m not sure about deserving it, but I crave it very strongly. I too hope the month takes its time in passing as September flew by far too quickly. Hope you get your wish. 🙂
I always love your season-reflections. Lovely writing about October.
It also makes me think you really ought to read L. M. Montgomery’s poetry–I think you’ll love her writing about nature. 🙂
I’m really looking forward to doing so, Cheryl. I have a feeling I’ll like it very much.
Yay! It’s October! Not only is it the scariest month of the year, but my birthday is the 15th. Needless to say, I had a lot of Halloween birthday parties growing up. 🙂
Thanks for posting about the read-a-thon. I hope you’re still planning on joining us. Be sure to link up to the starting line and check out what else I have planned this week. Here’s the link: http://t.co/yPdSSH3e
Happy scary reading!
You are welcome, Michelle, and happy early birthday! I love having a birthday in the fall (mine is Nov.). It should be a great month for getting creeped out! Can’t wait!
This is my most favorite month EVER. I love the pumpkin, leaves, quilt, book, spookiness of the month. Enjoy my friend!
You enjoy as well, Amanda. Your list of ‘loves’ looks perfect.
I’m currently reading an old Perry Mason novel, The Case of the Substitute Face for RIP. I just finished The Rajah from Hell which was also a mystery (historical variety).
You’d hardly know it’s Fall here, but the temperatures have finally dropped out of the 80s this week.
Glad to hear your weather is dropping down to something enjoyable. I’ve got a handful of Perry Mason novels that I’ve collected over the years. Need to actually read one sometime. I look forward to your review, of both books actually.
Many years ago I was not a fall fan, but as I grow older I grow more sentimental this time of year. The holidays are getting closer, the weather cools off, the leaves change, the air is crisp, and for me, it means more time indoors with loved ones. I’m looking forward to reading Gaiman. And I need to write a couple of reviews for RIP. I “accidentally” wandered into a bookstore yesterday and purchased more books for RIP. More than likely, I’ll have to read them next year since I still have a big stack for this year.
I have to admit I love October too. The weather’s perfect, cool bot not miserably cold.
The weather is cooling but there is absolutely no Fall color here at all. I guess one of these days…
October = lots of rain and the threat of floods. Not a month I look forward to. The good part is that the air loses some of the humidity and it gets a tiny bit cooler. That’s nice.
Yesterday I bought The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova – I’m very excited to read it for the R.I.P. challenge. Have you read it?