All aboard. People I very much appreciate:

Friday, September 29, 2017

Then X 3


This is both a partial repost and reiteration of an autumn post from two years ago (clickable here) which I trotted out because tomorrow is Sunday, the last day of September and the eve of my favorite month, October.  Two of my sons were born in September, so this is a favorite month too --but it's hot (they grew up and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where it's cool). I have combined these sentiments in this post, as well as added photos and a song (yes, I got the Ian And Sylvia album the month it came out). After all, or before all, the past belongs to those hindsightful enough to prepare for it. Let us proceed:

Then, Then It Will Be Autumn

To the California gardener, autumn means topiary lasts longer because shrubs begin to behave. To the retired gardener, it means excellent Cabernet from Lodi --25 miles from here-- to be opened in the afternoon as October fills the kitchen window. The photo below shows a specimen doing just that. It is a bit blurry because he doesn't have his glasses on. 


Our specimen will take his glass of wine and repair to the back porch.


And there, he will listen to one of his favorite songs, to a couple who sang to a world.  They compose a voice of autumn from the heart.
And yes, mais oui, in the back porch he will doodle...
Ian and Sylvia, "Mister Spoons"
....doodle the waking of the dinosaurs, which always happens in the fall.

Then, then it will be autumn! And it doesn't matter how many years have gone by, how many decades they've lived in their cities and made good lives, when my evolved progenies visit there is news, lovely silence and reverie --the memories all come back.
Then, then, then it is autumn.




20 comments:

  1. Your post evokes such a great sense of peace and continuity. A bottle of cab on the back porch and some great tunes is a perfectly civilized way to welcome autumn.
    And since our move to California October has become the favored month. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Tom, California is certainly the magical site of the October Country. Where else would Ray Bradbury come up with such title?

      Delete
  2. What a lovely post, Geo, with all the warm, sentimental, and reassuringly soothing things that autumn brings. October has always been my favorite month, too. It holds good memories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jon. There is certainly something subtle and kindly in October light that makes it a perfect repository for good memories.

      Delete
  3. I do like your taste in music and did enjoy the song. I hope October will be all that you hope with cooler weather and the joy of visits from your children. A glass or two of fine wine out on your back porch sounds just perfect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Arleen, the first version of this post featured Bonnie Tyler singing a song in French and English and seemed to embody the seasonal light rusted to perfection (you can click on it in the post-text) but after our son's visit, I recalled those feelings one gets from raising babies --and decided to use "Mr. Spoons".

      Delete
  4. Today, Saturday, is the last day of Septlember. Not many of our trees have turned yet but I can hear the dinosaurs rustling in the wind. Quite the wind last night...so many dinosaurs rusting. Time to shut down the deck for the season but we'll leave the front porch chairs out for this milder days when we can sit outside and welcome and celebrate fall. A cup of coffee, a warm fleecy sweater, feet up on the railing (no couth here lol) and we will be content. Happy fall.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds idyllic and lovely, Delores. I remember learning dinosaurs would chew willow bark because it contains acetylsalicylic acid (main ingredient of aspirin) because they had headaches THIS BIG(!!!). So if they bother your trees when they wake up, it doesn't mean they're extinct, just unwell.

      Delete
  5. I can't remember how many times Cary and I listened to them...."Lonely Girls" was so evocative and autumnal in feeling. We saw them in The Village, don't remember where, in '66 before I shipped out. I ran into Ian Tyson in central BC once, when I was fishing at one of the Douglas Lake ranches, he was staying at the lodge singing in the evening. Nice post, Geo. Nice drawing, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mike, I've almost given up figuring out chance meetings with public figures in the '60s --just chance, but you encountered one of my personal favorites. Tyson and Fricker were among my stabilizers back then --their songs soothed this savage. All I got to meet in '66 was Ronald Reagan and --literally-- ran into Larry Storch (Agarn on "F Troop"). I made the Geodoodle in 3 separate attacks;glad you like it. Thanks!

      Delete
  6. I haven't thought of Ian and Sylvia in a while. I believe that is the music I will listen to this afternoon. Autumn is my favorite season.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kindred Soul, You couldn't do better than listen to that inspired pair before proceeding into October. I believe I'll find "Lovin' Sound" among my LPs and put it on the turntable --yes, I still have a record player!

      Delete
  7. You've made a great case for October! It's interesting how certain times of the year absorb the things that happen regularly within them and become infused with memories, which in turn are triggered by the feel of the air and the look of the land. An unwieldy way of saying I hear you. Have a lovely month, Geo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not an "unwieldy way", O_Jenny, but an eloquent and effective way of describing the alchemy of October. You have a lovely month too.

      Delete
  8. Nice tune and the vino is flowing nicely tonight here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed Mr. Spoons and glad you're enjoying the most magical wine of the year. Thanks!

      Delete
  9. A lovely, mellow fall post with a touch of poignancy, Geo. I enjoyed all the songs this read had me listening to, including CCR's "Lodi" and Ian and Sylvia's "Four Strong Winds." I had not heard the rumor that Bonnie Tyler gargles with Dutch Cleanser. LOL! Whatever she does, it works. Now I'm listening to "Jolene" by Dolly Parton. Bonnie's "Louise" reminded me of it. Same theme, two vastly different artists and voices. I like 'em both.

    Your dinosaur looks friendly. I walked into the side entrance of Royal BC Museum yesterday. It's kitty-corner across the parking lot from our hotel in Victoria. And bam! There was the skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex. It hadn't been there the day before ~ a new small traveling exhibit that had just gone up to celebrate Canada's 150th. The exhibit was put together by a group of Canadian Natural History museums and included famous and significant fossils from across Canada. It was great fun watching the kiddos in awe of the T-rex. I was in awe of the Anomalcaris, the terror of the Cambrian seas ~ a beautiful specimen in a chunk of the Burgess shale. Then I walked out to delight in the autumn leaves and the cool air coming off the Strait of San Juan. Autumn is my favorite time of year.

    I'm glad that you and Norma got to spend time with your progeny!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Louise, thanks. Since childhood, dinosaurs have been among my favorite things to doodle. Were it not for their untidy habit of leaving skulls all over, I wouldn't have known about them --or wondered what expressions they might have had. But I'm always in awe of astonishing antiquity --a kid in a museum. And, like you love autumn when, on current of light and golden air, past and future commingle in magic.

      Delete
  10. What a delightfully mellow and nostalgic post. Even though the insanity that took place in Vegas makes it feel like winter in our hearts and the tears are... right there, just under the surface... we must hang onto the hopeful and pleasant memories of Octobers past. This post was just what I needed. Thanks, Geo. Dude.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most kind, Susan. I appreciate it. Was just looking at the ABC News Data site and learned the FBI definition of a mass murder is 4 or more victims at a single site. Then they furnished a map and numbers: there have been 270 such tragedies in our country in 2017. Obviously, the problem is larger than guns. Seldom as I agree with Mr. Trump, I accepted his opinion that Paddock was "demented". Maybe mandatory psych evaluations of gun-hoarders would be in order --maybe not, dude is no expert-- but we must have faith (something I turn to when facts are in short supply) that there is an equitable solution. Meanwhile, as you say,"...we must hang onto the hopeful and pleasant memories of Octobers past."

      Delete

Please comment! Stats are just numbers and don't really represent you. I need to read what you think and thank you.