“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 nameâ€Â
~William Bliss Carman
As I sit here on this sunny, cool morning, windows wide open after a night of autumn rain, I cannot help but be immensely grateful that blessed October has finally arrived, with the scent of cinammon on the air and her promises of crisp, fall days. Finally. I live for these last three months of the year.
October, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways….
“There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in Octoberâ€Â
~Nathaniel Hawthorne
1. October brings with it my love affair with former inmate, Martha Stewart. With her pumpkin carving and decorating tips, her sexiness factor rises tenfold! 😉
2. As I mentioned in the opening, the changes in the weather that usually arrive with October are one of my favorite things about the month. Obviously the weather in the midwest is a fickle mistress and it is as likely in early October to feel like summer as it is to feel like autumn, but I can dreamily hope that each day of the calendar will feel crisp and cool.
3. October baseball. As long as the Yankees lose, October baseball is a thing to marvel at. Living in the city with one of the most disheartening major league franchises ever, it is hard to be excited about baseball during the regular season. However, come October, I am ready to watch games and watch them with a passion. I usually hitch my wagon to one or two teams as the playoffs unfold in the hopes that they will make it to the World Series. There are some interesting match-ups starting this week and I cannot wait to enjoy October baseball.
“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.â€Â
~Hal Borland
4. The colors, oh the colors! Orange is one of my favorite if not my very favorite color and it has so much to do with this time of the year. The reds and oranges and golds of the changing leaves of autumn, the early darkness, the bright white stars and glowing moon. October is awash with color and is a feast to the eyes.
“October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book.â€Â
~Anonymous
5. At no time is the R.eader’s I.n P.eril Challenge more enjoyable than in October! Poe and Lovecraft and Stoker and Leroux, their words echo in my mind and tug on my thoughts, tempting me to forsake responsibility for an hour or two curled up with an eerie book in hand. I am so excited about the ongoing reading, ongoing contests, and the new things I have in store for you for the second and concluding month of the R.I.P. II Challenge!
6. Food!!! The turning of the calendar page from September to October is akin to the crack of a starter’s pistol, announcing that it is indeed time for good, hearty eating! We began our October eating a few days early this year as Mosker had us over Saturday night for an AMAZING meal! I kid you not, every trip to her house is a culinary delight. There is something new and incredible to eat every time! This time we had (and forgive me Mosker that I cannot remember the exact names of everything) bruschetta with basil and fresh tomatoes and melted cheese, roasted tomato bisque (oh my was it delicious!), fresh rolls, fettucine alfredo with homemade alfredo sauce and homemade icecream with sugar cookies! The ice cream choices were vanilla and pumpkin! The pumpkin ice cream was so perfectly seasonal. I hope I can convince Mosker to bring some over here for the Tarts annual Halloween party as I certainly need to eat more.
7. Scary movies! Classics with Vincent Price, Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, Peter Lorre, Bela Lugosi…I just love pulling out the old creepy classics and curling up with the family in the dark to enjoy a good scare. Couple that with favorite newer films, like the Burton films (A Nightmare Before Christmas, The Corpse Bride, Sleepy Hollow), Wallace and Gromit’s The Curse of the Were-rabbit, the Underworld films, The Others…there are probably more scary movies in my house than I can watch in October, but I’ll try my best to squeeze them all in!
“I think a lot more people are getting into Halloween because it’s the one time of year where adults can be kids.â€Â
~Craig McDonald
8. I agree with the sentiment regarding Halloween, but of course I believe adults can, and should, act like children much more often than just once a year! Halloween and Christmas are frequently in a neck and neck race to be my favorite holidays. My parents made Halloween a special time when I was a child and those delicious memories have insured that All Hallow’s Eve retains a special place in my heart. I love pulling out the Halloween decorations, carving pumpkins, planning parties, getting snacks ready for the sadly decreasing numbers of trick-or-treaters. Everything about the holiday thrills me!
So, how ’bout you? Do you love October? Hate it? Why?
I have so many exciting and fun things to share with you this month…I have a couple of VERY exciting this to share with you THIS WEEK!!! I can hardly wait! The first will be on Wednesday, so stay tuned.
I’d love to hear your thoughts, favorite memories, etc. of October, so chime in. Happy Monday everyone!
OOOOOooooooo……. I LOVE this memory….. I was about five and I went trick or treating dressed as a picnic table!!!!! And there was this one house I refused to go to because they had a fog machine and it had made the carport way to spooky for my small self! Then I cried on the way home b/c I wanted more candy:)
What a wonderful post, Carl! October seems to be a popular topic in the land of blog today…and I’m loving it!
I know how much October means to you. I can remember though vaguely, last year’s posts about October and scary people, like James. I love this month for the cool weather and the first blessed frost. My sinuses cannot wait. I’m waiting for scary movie night (my house is open!). Saw 4!
Happy October Carl! There are a million and one reasons that I love October…I stayed up reading Fragile Things last night through midnight to ring in the start of the month and was greeted this morning by a cool front finally! Mind you, it’s still 85 degrees outside, but there’s no humidity which gives the air as crisp of a feel as it can have at 85 degrees. I wrote a post about October in the wee hours of the morning, but completely forgot one of my favorite things until Tom just reminded me…freedom from allergies! The cool weather really does free up ones sinuses.
I love October too. And no matter what Martha knows how to do Halloween well! I love her Halloween shows. She’s a riot.
October, my favorite month, I welcome you! Autumn, my favorite time of year!
I love the smell of autumn. We visit our favorite Cider Mill often when it opens each September. There is nothing like the smell of fresh baked cider donuts to put you in the fall mood.
I wrote my own Ode to October post on my blog as well.
I love October because it is the month that I was born in. 🙂
Oh, yes!! October is probably my favorite month of the year!! I love autumn. The chill in the air, the changing of the leaves, Halloween and all things scary!! That’s why the RIP challenge is so much fun!! I usually take the kids to the orchard on a chilly Saturday in October to pick apples and pick out pumpkins!! Mmmmm….I can just about taste the apple caramel bars and Dutch apple pie now!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed the meal. You are all such good sports about trying new things so I have a great time searching for the next recipe to test. I’d be happy to make another batch of pumpkin ice cream.
I, too, live in the midwest near the other most disheartening baseball franchise (Cincinnati). Terrible, isn’t it? I keep thinking (and will think again), “maybe next year…” One fantastic thing about Cincinnati, though, is Graeter’s ice cream. I treated myself to some pumpkin cinnamon spice ice cream yesterday 🙂 Fall is good!
I have mild seasonal depression, meaning as summer fades and the nights get longer I, too, grow a bit gloomy. *sigh* Fortunately this malady is usually fading by the time October rolls around and is pretty much gone by about the middle of the month–chased away by the anticipation of Halloween!
I am a spring and fall person for the temperatures!! but I do get depression from the short daylight days *sigh* mine lasts a lot longer than Waynes ..unfortunately. But overall.. Fall and Spring are the best!
October in England – I was 12 (many years ago) was really a time of mists and mellow fruitfulness. I remember the colours of the leaves, the cold nights – the frosty mornings, and towards the end – being locked out of the common room as the senior kids prepared the “Ghost Train” for the Halloween party. Ghost train just meant clambering through tunnels and under chairs – but was all in the dark with cold wet gooey things flopping on you as you went past.
Don’t have season’s where I live – but I live through autumn through other people’s descriptions 🙂
I’m with Tom. I dream of waking up to frost and breathing through my nose!!!!
October is my favorite month. It’s the very best month for a wedding anniversary. Our weekend away is what I wait all year for. I have so many wonderful memories.
I can’t wait for our red maples out front to grow large. They are the most beautiful autumn tree!
My dad is going to get us a bale of hay and some pumpkins so we can do some decorating outside.
1) Reading gothic, horror and ghost stories. (All for the RIP Challenge, of course!). It simply cannot be done right any other time of year.
2) TCM’s scary movie festival (Friday nights in October).
Yup! October is THE month of the year. It reminds me of young love and of course, my birthday. I love the colors and the crisp air. Wearing jeans and long sleeves and going to the pumpkin patch.
I love the first smell of turning on the furnace!
October is great because for me it always kicked off the really long holiday season of south Louisiana–Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New year’s, Mardi Gras!
October and December are my two most favoritist times of the year! Pretty colors, fun decorations, yummy food, and the bite in the air… I live for this time of the year!
The best thing about October is that it means the end of mowing for the year is soon approaching. Man, I hate mowing my lawn. After the brutal heat of the summer October is a wonderful month. I also love taking my kids trick or treating and decorating for Halloween. May and Spring is my favorite time of year though. The new growth of mother earth and wearing shorts! 🙂
Just reading all the comments made me feel even more excited that (maybe) Fall is here. I think Fall is my favorite season because there’s nothing to do except enjoy it and the smells of a cool morning. I also love that smell of turning the furnace on. That was so neat to hear someone else say that too. And each year I decorate the house even more for Halloween. It is sad there are fewer and fewer Trick or Treaters every year. Don’t they want candy as much as we all seem to?
i’m glad its october for you, carl! i know how much you love it.
i won’t say i hate it, but i certainly don’t like it. in england its always bloody october and by the time the real october comes it feels like its winter (which has arrived, as usual, early). october would be nice if there were a may, june, july, august in between… but its always straight from april to october.
i did used to like october in south africa, especially as it was when spring was in full swing! 🙂 but its equivalent, april, i liked too! and for much the same reason. its a nice respite from all the heat. in south africa april is the perfect balance between warm and a little cold. here and there a few days of rain and coldish weather… then some hot ones… often many windy ones… and lots of pleasant, sleepy, keatsian ones… 🙂
i miss south africa 🙁
Great post! I love October for all the reasons you listed. And, it’s great to live in the Midwest where I can actually experience the season. 20 years in Southern California is not exactly the conducive to “acorn fever.”
Any chance you can get your friend to share her recipes for the soup and alfredo sauce?! Sounds delicious!!
Happy October, Carl!