WhistFall

It's that time of year again:

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      On Friday, we went to a wonderful Mabon ritual hosted by some good friends of ours from church.  It was simple but beautiful and fun.  With rythm from drums and rainsticks, we tied our wishes for our community and the greater world to a symbolic branch goddess and released them out into the world.  I was complimented on my ability to meaningfully participate in just about anything even with a squirmy one year old attached to my breast.
     
      After the ritual, we spent some time out in the woods at a rough wood henge the same friend constructed about a year ago.  It was peaceful and lovely, a wonderful way to celebrate the Equinox.

      I love this time of year.  Fall is easily, easily my favorite time of year.  It is change.  It is potential.  It is at once a calming down and a speeding up as we bid farewell to the summer and prepare to be bundled in for the winter.  The colors, the brisk air, the smells. 

      The recipes, the colors, the clothes.  HALLOWEEN (Samhain)!!!  Pumpkins and scarves, apples and cool, clear nights.

      I love every moment of it.  Fall IS my time of year.  It is when I am happiest.  When I am most productive.  When I am most at home in the world.  Just thinking about Fall makes me happy and at peace.

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      There is one small problem with all of this, though,

THERE IS NO MOTHER EFFING FALL IN THE SOUTH

      It's a damn good thing no one told me that before we got here, or I might have just ex patriated myself back to Canada. 

     There is a whole hell of a lot I love about the South.  A large part of my soul is that of a Florida Jimmy Buffett-esqe Beach Child.  The South has a real magic all it's own.

      But from the start of the school year until Yule, I couldn't give a good bob damn less.  I MISS FALL.  I got a bit of a taste on our recent trip to Michigan, but it wasn't enough.

      We only have about another year here in the South, and while for the most part I'm in no rush to move again, right now every molecule in my body is pulling me North.

      In the meantime, I will make the best of it.  I will take advantage of the extended growing season.  MacGyver just put in a whole new round of seeds a couple weeks ago.  I will go about meal planning and cooking fall type faire using the fresh local veggies that are still available here.

      I will have an awesome Halloween party.  We HAD been planning a great big adult Halloween bash, then just last week Punky told me she wanted her birthday party to be a Halloween party (her birthday is the 20th of Oct.).  Normally, I'd be thrilled with this proposition because, hello?  What could be cooler?  It sure as hell beats the spongebob theme from 3 years ago.

     But now I'm in a bit of a dilemma:  I don't know that I have the energy for two parties.  Heck, I don't even know if it would be possible to schedule two parties this late in the game.  MacGyver proposed that we do both at once, but that just sounds like an utter nightmare to me.  Our original plan for the adult party had been to have a huge to-do in the backyard - taking full advantage of the good southern weather and our huge moss covered oak trees for ambiance, and hire a couple of sitters to watch any kids who came inside.  We would set the kids up with a nice movie (Nightmare Before Christmas, anyone?), and some fall-themed treats then tell them to leave us the heck alone.  ;-)

      No, I really don't see that happening now.  If Punky wants a Halloween themed birthday, I, being who I am, have to make sure it gets done right.  We need bobbing for apples.  We need gourmet slime cake.  We need party favors from the steaming cauldron served by the creepy witch in the back yard.

      Ah, yes, there is so much potential for this.  I must get it just right.  Perhaps I can invite some grown up friends to help out and we can have a little after party once all the goblins are gone?  Hmmm . . .

      In other news, we've also come up with our costumes for this year.  So long as nothing changes and we can get all the peices together, we're all going as Batman villains.  I will be Poison Ivy.  Flintstone is going as the Riddler.  MacGyver will be either the Joker or Two-Face.  Punky is waffling between Catwoman (NOT a sexy catwoman *cringe*) and BatGirl.  At first, she wanted to opt out of the family costume and be something from Monster High.  I was totally cool with this until she actually showed me what Monster High was.  Have you seen this crap?   I love all things spooky and creepy, but these are just freaking slut dolls marketed to little girls.  They were freaking obsene.  One of them was wearing a skirt so short you could see her little doll bits showing.  ICK.  Sooooo . . .  None of that.  I'm really kind of sad, too.  Because I was so excited when Punky first told me about Monster High.  It sounded so cool.

      So, to review:

     

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      The lack of Fall in the South MegaSucks.
     We will be having one or two or one and a half Halloween Parties and I'm super excited.

      And a Special note to those of you who like to try to jump right over Fall and start with all the Yule/Christmas/Hannakah/Festivus malarky before we're barely out of September:

       Knock it the Fck off.

     That is all.

      Happy Fall!