Dateline: Saturday 27 August 2011, 10:00 AM(ish)
The dread month of August is nearly done. I don't like August.
August is a strange month to me. It is the last of the Summer Holiday months, but as I am not a school child this means little to me. Be that as it may, years of schooling have left me with PTSD apparently, because I still feel weird about the month. It is not yet Autumn, and it won't be until late September with the equinox that Autumn (Fall) truly begins, but at least September gets things started. You can begin to plan and act Autumn-ally without looking a kook. I'm not here to artificially advance the seasons, I just like Fall. Not so hot and sticky, but not so bitterly cold that I must hide indoors. It smells better too.
I understand that Autumn is associated with melancholy notions of dying, aging, poetic endings...well sod that. I like it. I like the smell of wet leaves slightly decaying and crackling fires as we clean the yard. It's "man potpourri", those burning leaves. The beer gets better as the hops laden summer brews, so famed for their "crisp" taste give way to the malted barley's I prefer. The ubiquitous "pumpkin pie spice", similar to, but distinct from "apple pie spice" appears in a variety of baked goods. (Herr Punkinstein's Kitchen Tip: When making French Toast or Cinnamon Toast consider instead of simple cinnamon using pumpkin pie spice, which is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice {apple pie spice is cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom [cardamom is a popular ingredient in curry powder]} to give your toast an extra special Fall Flavor profile) The smell of apple harvest and crisp, cold ciders is heavenly. The funnel cake, cotton candy, hot chocolate smell of the football field concession stand is a cherished memory for me. While I will continue to eat Key Lime Pie and "yarrr" like the pirate I sometimes claim to be, I don't live in Florida (not for lack of trying mind you...stupid company), the pies become more to my liking, rich, fruity, and dense. The sight of the lonely scarecrow in his field, now mowed and harvested...
I like Candy Corn.
I can't get to grips with August like I can September.
Since Thursday everything has been about prepping for Hurricane Irene, who made landfall this weekend in North Carolina and up into Virginia (she is a Cat 1 right now, but it is best to be prepared), so naturally all the good residents of the Old Dominion State rushed (actually we sauntered, nearly a mosey, for Virginians are possessed of an unflappable sense of sangfroid in the face of disasters. "Hurricane coming, let me get an extra case of beer, a bottle of applejack, a loaf of bread and some toilet paper."
I have many, many bags of tea in many flavors, a standard kettle, a barbecue grill and an underdeveloped understanding of the danger of a hurricane. I'll be okay.
While procuring supplies and whatnot I noticed that Walgreens had 4 varieties of candy corn on the shelf, Halloween cards and some bags of candy. Yay! Let's get this Fall consumer season started. Nothing, and I do mean NOTHING makes me feel better than knowing that business is again embracing the Halloween spirit, regardless of poor economic conditions.
I've mentioned this before, so I'll just touch on it again, while I believe Samhain to be a rustic, traditional time, I love to see consumerism in action, because it ensures the survival of that which I love.
I purchased the standard Candy Corn and the Caramel Apple Candy Corn, eschewing the "Indian Corn" and "Fall Mix" at this time. I am keeping a weather eye open for the next sign of Autumn's commercial arrival, perhaps this will be Halloween Oreos or Halloween Chips Ahoy. I know the magazines are starting to appear and here on the Atlantic seaboard apple harvest season begins, reaching its height in the Autumn, but what is the sign that will tell me the show is, officially, as it were, on?
Little Debbie and her PUMPKIN DELIGHTS.
While gathering my supplies for Irene I looked, but did not find, LDPD's. Thus I know that Summer is still with us...
It is raining, dark and in the mid to high 70's outside; Irene's least force is pounding Virginia Beach and flooding the city of Norfolk. I like it.
Until next time, keep your pumpkins dry.
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