Late October—very late! Halloween rolling in tomorrow. Weather changing. Patio and deck furniture hauled to the garage. Solar lights pulled from their places of importance around the yard and brought in for cleaning, battery removal, and storage.
One of the last mowings, trimming, and edging for the year before mower gets traded for snow thrower that’s been hiding out in son’s shed down the road a ways.
Car in for oil change this morning. Large TV blaring in waiting room in Service area. Screaming fans in the street and gushing hosts and hostesses on program annoying and headache inducing! I hate TV in the morning, especially GMA, but I can’t very well get up and turn it off. It’s not mine, after all! So I sit and wait. Try to read my Jeff Shaara book about the siege of Vicksburg, but Taylor Swift is rattling my concentration with her birdlike warbling.
Commercial break. Two to three minutes of political spots that paint opponents as the most evil and vile persons walking this planet! These do nothing but add to my distaste for having the damned TV turned on in the first place!
A lady beside me is bending the ear of an older gentleman two seats away—something about the tree that fell next to her house and the giant sinkhole that scared the bejabbers out of her neighborhood. He shakes his head as if to say that he is spellbound at all that she is telling him.
Some employee from the front comes in, apparently on some mission of importance, and re-stocks the styrofoam cups for the coffee machine, that is now woefully near empty!
Fortunately, oil change and tire rotation is done within forty-five minutes, so I’m free to escape and regain my equilibrium in the peace and quiet of my Equinox. Best part: maintenance service still under warranty and no charge, and everything checks out A-OK. Still like new!
On the way home, I pass many farms and fields. Harvest in full swing, and farmers working hard to beat the impending rain and big weather change that’s heading our way here in northern Illinois by tomorrow.
Nearby orchards and farm stands have closed for the season. Out of apples, pumpkins, and other autumn delights. Signs proclaim that another season has come and gone and “Thanks for your patronage…see you next spring!” Owners preparing to head south for the winter, I would think. Basking in the sun while we’ll be basking in the driving snow as it flies at us from our snow throwers on a regular basis.
The busy “writing season” is creeping in now. Important to take care of outside chores so when the frigid winds howl and the snow begins to fly and the furnace reports for duty once more, work on next novel and short stories can move along without so many interruptions. No NaNoWriMo for me this November. Have enough work to do on current WIPs. Maybe again next year.
Now, time to move along to next items on “To Do” list. Happy late-October, all…CortlandWriter 🙂
Down Many Roads... 
Your trip to the service station sounds about as much fun as my air travel today. I’m in between flights, waiting for people to store their mounds of carry-on luggage and sit down so we can leave. Good times, good times. (Perhaps since it’s so near Halloween, all passengers should come in costume. That would make things more interesting. 🙂 )
Hi, Carrie! You’re traveling today. What fun! I love the thought of everyone on your flight in some sort of costume. Sounds like a Stephen King story. I hope you’re going somewhere exotic and fun and taking along your “happy” face! (Loved your recent post…) Have a safe trip and watch out for ghouls and spooks out and about! 🙂
Thank you. I actually flew to Seattle for a funeral so not the happiest of times. But my family is all together and its been a long time since that’s happened so that part is wonderful. 🙂
Sorry to hear that, but glad about family being together. 🙂
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Well, I would say you are completely prepared for the arrival of Old Man Winter, Mark. You must have been a Boy Scout. 🙂 Oh my, the political ads here in North Carolina have been horrible, we’ve been bombarded. I’ll be glad when the election is over. I love the photograph of the trees by the lake.
Well, Jill, I was a Boy Scout for a couple of years way back when, but I was never dedicated enough to really move up, and other activities like sports took precedence. Yep, I’m ready for the elections to be finished, for better or worse! And that photo of the trees was taken a couple of falls ago from across the lake toward our cottage–under those pretty trees! Couldn’t resist using it for this post. Happy Halloween! 🙂
Your post resonates with the changing seasons in such a charming way Mark. I love this time of year for getting everything ‘winterised’ in readiness for those cold days soon to arrive and also to hunker down to writing. Reading your post gave me a wonderful taste of ‘Americana’ which, for this Brit who spent almost 20 years living in California, gave a nice cosy feeling – never mind the annoying TV ads, politics and annoying pop stars 😉 Happy Halloween 🙂
Thank you, Sherri! Yes, it’s definitely “hunkering down” time around here, although we aren’t battling any of the snow and really cold weather that we will in December. I agree with you about paying no attention to those TV ads, it’s just that there are so many of them–every minute–that they’re hard to get past! You have a happy Halloween, too…:-)
It’s still quite mild here which is unusual but as with you we don’t tend to get our really cold weather until the end of the year into Jan/Feb. Always hoping for a white Christmas though 🙂 Yes, I remember those Ads when I lived in the States, they can be rather annoying putting it mildly! Thanks Mark 🙂
Thank you, Sherri. It’s always nice to hear from you! 🙂
I don’t get to read “bejabbers” very often. Loved it! Oh, you’re making me homesick for Michigan again and I just got back!
Hi, Luanne. Yep, it’s that time of year around here in the great Midwest–as you know! The leaves have pretty much fallen and the bare bones underneath remain, gearing themselves for the frigid days ahead. As for “bejabbers,” I first recall hearing it used by one of my professors at Kent State way back in 1969. Thanks for checking in and further congratulations to to you for your recent good news of publication! 🙂
I, too, am looking forward to the winds of winter howling around the house and the rain beating down and writing going full-steam ahead. I could identify with your thoughts on TV. Lately, I find all of it so inane. Good luck with this winter’s writing projects.
Hi, Fran! Thanks for stopping by and for those inspiring thoughts! Bring on that stuff I call “writing weather”! Best wishes to you as well. 🙂