Five For Fall

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On Friday, one of my blogging friends, known only as Folly, asked her blog readers to list their five favorite things about autumn. I clicked reply and began to list foliage, macaroni & cheese, etc… I stopped, looked at what I was writing, and realized I was delivering a cliché string of pat answers which could easily be regurgitated by ANY high functioning second grader. Folly’s my friend, and I’m a writer, so I told myself I could do better.

I thought about it most of that night and the next morning, but still had nothing of consequence to report. All else having failed, I did one of the things I do best. I went shopping.

The sky was completely gray with thick ominous looking clouds. While rain only fell in sporadic trickles, gusts of crisp cool wind promised a more vigorous weather system would hit before the day’s end. Heading down Baseline Road, the foliage displayed intense yellows, oranges, and reds so fiery one might have suspected they were spray painted.

Cinnamon scented pine cones, which are perfuming my desk as I write this, were the first items to be purchased. Also on the list were veggies for roasting with fresh rosemary; carrots, potatoes, and cippolini onions; hard apple cider, pork cutlets; cranberry beans, bacon, kale, and mini pasta for a rich soup; candy corns, and an array of other less interesting items. Going from the car to the store and back, allowed the brisk wind to slap my face and rejuvenate me, and made me grateful for my thick hunting socks and winter coat.

That evening, as I enjoyed roast beef in a savory brown gravy and listened to the hard rain pound the shingles of the roof, I realized why the list had previously eluded me. Until my shopping trip, I hadn’t really experienced fall yet this year. I’d read and bookmarked fall recipes, changed my desktop’s wallpaper to display autumn foliage, and performed other seasonal tasks, but none of it was the same as being out in the weather of the season.

My List

1. Fall Foliage - As cliché as it sounds, the vibrant colors of the leaves dispense a beauty and a drama virtually unmatched by man-made art.

2. Fall Clothes - Thick warm socks, big coats, and sweaters hug us in a warm and cozy embrace.

3. Comfort Foods - As wool, denim, canvas, and leather warm our outer selves aromatic meats, roasted root vegetables, gravies, soups, stews, and bubbly hot concoctions featuring cheese keep our innards toasty warm and happy.

4. Hard Cider - While I’m typically a wine person, the crisp bite and tang of apples and pears is a pleasant treat of the season.

5. The Weather - In addition to giving us ample cause to dig out those fall clothes and to allow that soup to simmer, the weather arouses us with brisk breezes, and awakens gratitude within in us as we listen to the pitter patter of drops from inside our comfortable homes.

Honorary Mention - Cinnamon Scented Pine Cones, Candy Corn, Trick or Treaters on Halloween, and Thanksgiving.

Pet Peeves

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Those who know me, will tell you, I’m often ruled by my passions. Being a passionate man, I have a number of pet peeves. I discussed my linguistic peeves back in a February piece. However, things, other than the misuse of language, annoy the crap out of me too.

Let me start by saying, I’m a liberal agnostic. This means, I have no idea what to call God, but I believe you get to call God whatever you want: Yahweh, Jehovah, Christ, Allāh, etc… So, it irks me to see “Muslim” being used as a dirty word. These days, to turn the masses against someone, all you have to do is accuse them of being a Muslim. Somehow, it’s become equivalent to calling someone a terrorist or Nazi. Now this trend has extended to labeling the building of a Muslim community center in New York as being un-American.

It is a little gratifying to see the protesters calling the place a Mosque, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt they don’t know what they’re actually protesting. Even if it was a Mosque though, when has the concept of religious freedom been an un-American value?

Keep in mind, “Muslims” didn’t bring The Twin Towers down, Al-Qaeda did. Al-Qaeda is to Islam what Nazis are to Christianity, an extreme faction which perverts scripture in order to justify a distorted world view. Protesting a, perceived, Mosque over 9/11 makes about as much sense as picketing a Lutheran Church over the genocidal misdeeds at Auschwitz.

Moving on, harassment over sexual orientation has lead to five suicides over the last three weeks. Excuse me? How has 21st century America not evolved beyond persecuting people for being different? Whether you believe being gay is an affront to scripture, or not, you have to believe emotional terrorism violates the spirit of ANY well-founded moral code. The idea that we all need to be the same to be accepted, stands in direct opposition to what it means to be American, or humane for that matter.

Now that I am writing this, I realize these first two aren’t separate pet peeves, but are products of the single pet peeve I have for intolerance.

I have other peeves which irk me though.

*The protesting of certain foods, when the realities of modern production have eliminated the problem being protested,

*The idea that banning gay marriage is any less immoral than banning interracial marriage, or African Americans from lunch counters,

*Hollywood using the same basic story, and changing names and locations to churn out cookie cutter movies,

*Parents letting children scream in restaurants instead of taking them out,

*Dishonest political commercials (OK, I’m sick of all political adds at this point, but the ones that lie and assume viewers are too stupid to look up public records on the internet are especially irksome.),

*Etc…