fall is upon us

I posted this on the internetz last year and some girl said she was getting a tattoo of it. HA. /end tangent

Errybody's like "IT'S SEPTEMBER FIRST YOU ANIMALS." And yeah, maybe loving fall is a "blogger cliche" or whatever, but I'm willing to give up my reputation as a non-normal-blogger and just say, on the record, that fall is that thing for me.

Every year when September first comes, it's preceded by a week or so of that bone chill, that gets right down into your sneakers and makes you think "Huh. Maybe I should start wearing hoodies...?" So you do. And then by 3pm you're melting out of your skin. Too excited. I fell for it, too. I wore a sweater two weeks ago because it was raining when I woke up. And when I got home the sweater went right back into hibernation.

This weekend I drove, drove, drove, right past the second star to the right if you know what I'm saying. And pretty soon I was in the Cache Valley National Forest (for those of you not privy to Utah-speak, Cache is pronounced like the monies). Just the drive there smacked me upside the head with FALL. IT IS FALL, everyone. My grandma told me "nature knows what season it is." I mean, yes. But her corn has already shriveled up. It knows. The mountains are turning over now.

You know fall has a smell, right? The smell of decay and burning and orange sky. That smell. It's my childhood. We would run down the streets by our house until the sun dipped just below the horizon line, the shadows turning into warped shapes and creepy ghouls if we wanted them to (we always wanted them to). Liz and I read and re-read "The Witches." Everybody in our vicinity became a witch. I pulled the worn-down books about haunted things off the bookshelf. We had books about haunted things! That is no hyperbole.

Now all I want to do is take my bike, Topanga, and ride around campus. Being on campus in the fall is one of the best things. I always get jealous (!) of every student everywhere when fall begins. If anyone wants to buy me a new notebook and pencil I will love you for thinking of me in this trying time. Ha. If you see me lurking in the BYU library, plz come say hi. Next year I will join you there as a student. And I probably won't be as poetic about school as I'm being now. 2 years without schooling DOES things to you, man.

Last fall was downright beautiful. For the books! But I was depressed. I was in a funk, which lasted clear 'til this summer. I'm glad that I went through everything I did, though. It made me stronger (I hope). That's right--I can bench 200 lbs now! Alright. JK. But you know what I'm saying. This fall will be a little different; just as beautiful, though.

And now, some autumn-y pictures to take us out.

“October Country . . . that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and mid-nights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain. . . .” 
― Ray Bradbury, The October Country

Aaand just for funzies: last year's Labor Day post, having nothing whatsoever to do with fall. I can keep it real. Yes I can.

(everyone on the internet on September 30th, 11:59pm)

(everyone on the internet on October 1st)