Here Comes Autumn

Not more than a week ago I smelled Fall in the air. For some reason August played cool, which felt wonderful. Now, we're getting some more heat, but it will feel like Fall again soon enough.

I love autumn. Somehow it smells like school and new books and old friends. It represents the end of baseball and the beginning of football. (For that alone, Fall makes me think of George Carlin and HBO comedy specials.) Often enough, it led to a new Rush album and a new season of television (and with it, sweeps).

I remember one particular fall in high school (probably my senior year) where our football team played an away game. A downpour of rain hit after we changed from our marching band uniforms... my leather jacket took a beating from mother nature. The rain was really only the first step... after that, it developed quite a lot of character. I still have it, but my arms are a little longer. (According to my doctor's visit this morning I'm certainly not as scrawny as I was back then.)

Symbolicly, autumn preceeds death... the fall of man leading to the cold and sterile winter. (Got that from one of my great high school teachers... Melchoir.) My family might see that symbolism realized as one of my uncles is not in great health. That's all speculation, of course, and hopefully he'll be around for a long time. However, it's just a reminder that my older relatives will eventually go and he is no exception.

The more and more I see my uncle (and, I need to visit him soon), he reminds me more of my grandfather. My uncle's face seems round like my grandfather. He grins like my grandfather. A few years ago at a family reunion our big picture turned out great... and my uncle didn't so much grin as beam. Maybe he's just a funny old guy now. I still remember him with a cigar from all of the old family holidays when I was but a curmudgeon in training... like Thanksgiving in the fall.

It's Christmas... Get Over It, Pagans

I'm re-gifting a topic I blogged for Anti-Strib a couple of weeks ago.

It is effing-Christmas. Screw Kwanza (and the Marxist overtones tainted with Symbianese gibberish). As for Hanukah, at least it is an actual holiday, but it does not compare in significance to Christmas. (You want a good Jewish holiday, we've got Yom Kippur... that's a major holiday.)

So gather with your family, your loved-ones, old friends, neighbors, and even co-workers if you've got one of those jobs that must run through December 25th. Even the grumpier folks. (Hmmm, especially the grumpier folks... just because they are in a mood or have in-laws annoying them or bosses harping on them doesn't mean we should avoid wishing them a Merry Christmas.)

Perhaps you dislike Christmas because you have to get together with your family and put on a good face... how is that so bad? It might help other folks in your family to be civil. On the other hand, nothing's perfect. You'll have a couple of gripes now and then... if it is on Christmas, so be it. Just remember a little forgiveness and humility and you might end up at least where you started.

One of the in-laws' in-laws goes to Kuwait in a couple of weeks. Good kid. Air force reserves, I think, so he's probably going to be fine. However, that'a a lot closer than most of us are, so clearly his odds for trouble are a little higher than ours. He's a new addition and a good guy. (He's a fire fighter... likes "Rescue Me", "The Job", "Battlestar Galactica", sci-fi in general, and has a good sense of humor, so he's a nice addition to the growing list of in-laws in my wife's extended family.)

A Doctor Who Christmas special later today... "The Runaway Bride". Probably as silly and pantomime-esque as last year's "The Christmas Invasion" (oh dear), but should still have a couple of good gags, a few good lines, and should at least tide me over for another couple of months until the new season kicks in. (Luckily, there will be no "Harriet Jones, Prime Minister" lines to induce mega-cringing.)

Friends to visit later today... after I see my family. A pretty full day of stuff, and if there's enough snow (and I doubt there will) I'll get in some cross-country skiing. I'm not looking for a lot of stuff at all... in fact, I'd be satisfied with a good meal, some fun with my nephew and son, a few drinks with some of my friends, and a half-way decent Doctor Who. What do I need? The year was fine, a new one is ready to hit, and while nothing is massively spectacular (other than the boy), there is clearly nothing to worry about.

Merry Christmas.