Bill was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. It’s brutally cold there in the winter, he says.
He couldn’t wait to get out. When he finished high school and his father was pressuring him to go to college, Bill snuck off one summer day and joined the U.S. Air Force instead.
Next thing he knew, he was on a bus to Texas. A drill sergeant met the bus in a blazing hot parking lot and screamed at and insulted the new recruits for many long minutes after they disembarked.
Bill felt the first pang of homesickness then. With tears in his eyes, Bill wondered if joining up was a mistake.
It wasn’t. He stayed in the USAF for several years and got to live in Europe for most of it, doing cocktail sets at fancy NATO parties, playing keyboard with the USAF rock band at remote outposts in Turkey, town squares in Greece, etc., entertaining fellow troops and the local public with pop songs like 99 Luftballoons.
When his hitch was up and Bill was trying to figure out what to do next, he knew he couldn’t endure another Buffalo winter. He thought back to a brief trip to a base in Florida that had palm trees and agreeable weather. It was MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, so he moved there.
Bill has lived in Florida ever since, but he retains a Buffalonian’s vestigial fondness for summer. There’s really no excuse for that anymore, in my opinion. He damn well knows Florida summers are to be endured rather than enjoyed, much like Buffalo winters.
Having grown up in a humid swamp, I never had any illusions about summer. I hate it. I’ve always hated it. But this was the worst summer ever for me personally since I was ill for pretty much all of it.
All this to say I am so grateful for the autumnal equinox, which arrived today like a glorious gift. When I carried my cup of coffee to the porch early this morning to watch the swamp come alive, there was a cool breeze. It will get to near 90 F today, but summer is over. Good fucking riddance!
Open thread.
Baud
Fall is my favorite season too.
TBone
My high school German teacher, Miss Fischler, brought the German video version of 99 Luftballons into class and we learned the whole song in German. Lyrics a bit different than the English version.
Spanky
Many happy Autumnal Equinoxes to you, Betty.
Summers as a child in Pittsburgh were idyllic, but 21st Century summers in the Chesapeake Tidewater are now to be endured. Fall is also my favorite season, and I am so ready for it after this recent, brutal summer.
prostratedragon
“Autumn,” 3rd mvt, Vivaldi; Apollo’s Fire
TBone
Being a Yankee, summer is my favorite season and I get melancholy when it ends every year. This year, however, is different. Bring on Election Day! LFG!
UncleEbeneezer
My parents let an Air Force recruiter visit when I was 16. It was a total surprise to me. I was just sitting in our rec room playing Super Mario Brothers or whatever and my Dad walks in with this guy in civilian clothes but with a bunch of marketing materials in his hands. I remember him seeing my guitar and amp and saying “You know you can be a musician in the military” as part of his sales pitch. I could only think: yeah but I can be a musician without joining the military too, though I doubt I said it out loud. He was dogged and almost pushy but at the end I said I’d need to think about it and get back to him. As soon as he left I was like NOPE to my parents. I had zero interest in the military.
In the early-2000’s a very talented musician friend of mine (who now scores a lot of tv/film) did several tours with a band of USO sites in and around Bosnia. The money was decent and he enjoyed the opportunity but it was kind of nerve-wracking considering the war was happening then.
Ten Bears
Can always put more clothes on (electric socks!). Can never take enough off …
Yarrow
Gawd, yes. Summer is the worst. I hate it. HATE IT. Hot, humid, miserable, endless. It is, as you said, something to be endured. I know you’ve had other reasons why this summer was particularly bad. Here’s to a much better fall, both weather-wise and otherwise.
HinTN
Caught the sun rising from the Gulf this equinoxial morning. St George Island ain’t your swamp, Ms Cracker, but it’s a damn nice place to be right now.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
I’ve determined that “favorite” seasons depend on where you live. When I was in a hot, humid place like VA, WV or Misery, fall was easily my fav because of the colors but also a final break from the heat and humidity.
Back in CO, it’s Spring because it warms up enough that being outside is glorious.
Right now because of fall colors, anybody heading out I-70 this weekend is stuck in massive amounts of traffic coming and going.
peter
Happy fall, Betty — and thanks for your wonderful reports from the swamp.
From many years of college teaching I enjoy fall as the “back to school” time — new classes, new students, chance to do better than last time. But in addition, it’s the return of cooler weather. After 30+ years living in NoVA I’ve come to the conclusion that the best month of the year here is October. Fall planting, fall migrations, first frost, barleywine ale…
And this year, looking forward to kicking TCFG’s ass in November!
SandyZ
The only bad part of Fall is the shortening days. Drastically shorter all of a sudden and then very slowly lengthening out again. The first night you eat dinner in the dark is depressing.
TBone
@UncleEbeneezer: that ambush might have irrevocably destroyed my trust in parents’ judgement.
Elizabelle
Happy fall to us. This is the autumn we are going to soundly defeat der Trump, and free him up for a cascade of court cases, penalties and please, please, please meaningful incarceration.
TBone
@Elizabelle: from your lips to the ears of all that is just and righteous!
BR
As a Californian, I sometimes yearn for distinct seasons but then when I’ve actually experienced them in New England I changed my tune “two days of winter: fun. five months of winter: not so fun”. We have four seasons here in SoCal:
Winter w/ highs in 60s and 70s, sometimes drizzly (Nov 15 — Feb 15)
Spring, warm and fairly dry (Feb 15 — May 15)
May gray / June gloom, overcast with clouds from ocean (May 15 — June 15)
Summer, fairly warm/hot but not that humid (June 15 — Nov 15)
Gin & Tonic
I had to replace a dead thermostat the other day, and this morning the heat came on, so yes, it’s fall.
Betty Cracker
@HinTN: I know it well. Pretty spot!
CaseyL
Autumn is my fave, too, though soggy, soggy Seattle doesn’t get many of the sunny-crisp-cool days that I love Autumn for. When we do get them, though, it’s that much sweeter.
My Aunt has wanted to live in Florida all of her adult life. She did get her wish back in the early 1970s, when she and her husband briefly lived and taught in Miami. For some reason, she didn’t remember what summers were like when she moved back to Florida last year – though to be fair, the move wasn’t entirely voluntary. (She had a mental health crisis and her son moved her to Florida so he could keep an eye on her.)
Now she hates Florida in the summer. It’s kind of funny to hear a complete sun-and-heat worshipper complain about too much sun and too much heat. Though – again, to be fair – what she mostly objects to is the rain, and when the rain stops and the sun comes out it turns everything into God’s Pressure Steamer.
I’m unlike every other person in my family in that I prefer the cold. You’re supposed to get less cold tolerant as you get older? So far that hasn’t happened. Just the opposite, in fact.
Betty, I am so happy you’re enjoying the Autumn! How I envy your morning sojourn of sipping coffee while watching the river outside your porch!
Gin & Tonic
@BR:
Lies. It’s not five months of winter. There’s pre-winter, then winter, then mud. Distinct seasons.
lowtechcyclist
I’m a summer person and I always hate to see it go, but then I’ve never lived in Florida, even though I visit regularly. Summers in northern Virginia, Charlottesville, and southern Maryland have their occasional bad days, but mostly are just fine for getting outdoors. Summers in Bristol, VA were all too short. It took the midlands of South Carolina to chase me indoors during the summer. (As Phylllis knows all too well, I’m sure, the Midlands are the hot spot of SC, too far from both the ocean and the Appalachian foothills for either to do any good.)
@Spanky:
This summer was brutal? I confess I didn’t notice. (Note to others: Spanky and I live in the same county.) But then I really am more of a warm weather person than most people are.
Nukular Biskits
Damn. I had forgotten about the equinox. Thanks for the reminder, BettyC!
Momma’s b’day was Friday and I guess I’ve been thinking about her a lot these last couple of days, which is why I forgot.
rikyrah
The way I love Fall. 🍁🍂
I think I chose New England to go to college because of Fall. The leaves changing colors in NH, VT and ME….so breathtakingly beautiful.
Jeffg166
Autumn is the best time of the year. Warm days cool nights. It now lingers longer than is used to. One benefit, if not the only benefit, of global warming.
rikyrah
Amy Walter (@amyewalter) posted at 9:54 AM on Sun, Sep 22, 2024:
This NBC national poll finds Harris undercutting Trump’s Biden-era strengths on everything from “competent and effective” – Trump +18 in July, Harris +5 now; to ability to serve as Commander in Chief – Trump +6 in July, Harris +4 now.
(https://x.com/amyewalter/status/1837868044409815406?t=59b-NDSVNDih0x3eVl352A&s=03)
Chief Oshkosh
Spring is my favorite season, but Fall is a close second
ETA: But it’s all relative to locale. Summer on mid-coast Maine is absolutely the best time and place to be alive. Especially if someone else is buying the lobstah and beer!
rikyrah
The Chicago winters were tough growing up, but never bad enough for me to want to move to anyplace without four seasons.
Jeffg166
@rikyrah:
Is the color still good? In Philly the heat does a real number on the trees. The autumn color is now washed out. Nothing like I remember when I was a kid. The last good year for color here was 14 years ago.
TBone
Last night, while I watched the movie Amsterdam (which I really liked despite mixed reviews and in which Taylor Swift appears), Bucknell blew up a surprise fireworks show. Their staging area is about a city block from my house, and this year they emphasized the big explosions that sound like artillery. Cats were frazzled! Bucknell usually sends out postcards to us neighbors, but no such warning arrived this year. Then a very long thunderstorm began, so the booming lasted far into the night. Luckily, cats are resilient and are fine today.
Amsterdam, based on the ‘get rid of FDR, install a dictator’ Business Plot (General Smedley Butler) is still rolling around in my head because it is so prescient and its themes so intriguing.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2022/10/04/movies-review-amsterdam-terrific-david-o-russell-christian-bale-margot-robbit-john-david-washington-taylor-swift/
Baud
@rikyrah:
Happy about overcoming the propaganda but not happy about the effectiveness of the propaganda.
kindness
You rock Betty! Too many times I questioned why a progressive chooses to live in red Florida. It’s because you are a Florida girl. I shouldn’t have questioned. More power to you. In living out our best hopes for Florida. Thank you and God Bless
Out here in central CA, we had over a month of +100 degree days. Those have been over since August thank FSM. The dry heat is nice, no frizzy hair, but it’s still hell over 100. Yet I still live here.
TBone
@Jeffg166: 😔 I have very mournful feelings about that phenom, which is also distinct here in central PA.
jonas
The past couple of weeks in upstate NY have been paradise — 70s and 80s, no rain, no humidity, clear, blue skies. Produce at the farmers markets to die for. Just starting to see some color on the trees that should peak mid-October. After a hot, steamy July-August, we were due. Some rain coming later in the week, but it’s not going to bother me.
Another Scott
Agreed. Early fall can be good, if the pollen monsters aren’t out.
Meanwhile, new hitech pickup spotted in the wild…
Cheers,
Scott.
mvr
Summers end was Hot as Hell two days ago in Eastern Nebraska. Still pretty hot yesterday when I was fishing a semi local lake and got soaked just walking around it wondering whether I should have brought some water. a Today it is Fall and the morning temps are still in the 50s. Really marking the transition here.
Fall and Spring are my favorites in the Midwest. But when I lived in Portland I kind of liked Summer as well, though I gather they are no longer what they used to be there. In the Wyoming mountains I pretty well enjoy anytime I can get up there – they close the road in November and it doesn’t reopen until June, though we sometimes snowshoe or ski in even when it is closed.
wombat probability cloud
Betty, wishing you many more luxuriously cool mornings this fall.
Here in the western UP of Michigan the transition into fall comes early. Our woods become quieter as migrants leave (last hummer on September 11th, Nighthawks winging their way south in their moth-like way during the evenings, etc.) and the mosquitoes disappear, which provides relief to an oppression akin to your summer heat and humidity.
UncleEbeneezer
@TBone: Oh it definitely started the process, lol.
Salty Sam
I have a good friend who grew up, like me, in Houston. Another swamp similar to Betty’s. I was complaining of the summer heat here in Austin a few years ago, and she chided me- “Oh c’mon! Don’t you remember how glorious summertime was when we were growing up? We didn’t complain about the heat!”
She was right, but that said, age and climate change have tempered my enjoyment of Texas summer. This year was an anomaly – it wasn’t too bad, but last year was absolutely brutal, and I’m sure there are more to come. So Fall has always been a welcome arrival (the calendar says Equinox today, but we’ve got still several weeks of hot left to endure).
When we were experiencing pandemic lockdown on our boat in Puerto Rico, I realized how much the change of season means to me. The weather forecast in the tropics is unchanging- Hi 85°, Lo 80°, Every. Day. Of. The. Year. One day in October, the remains of a cold front blew over the island, and although it didn’t change the temp much, there was a bit less humidity, and a “snap” in the air, and I just sighed to myself “ahhh, football weather!”
* Beautiful photo as usual Betty, and the use of the past tense in relation to your discomfort this summer was nice to hear.
rikyrah
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 8:28 AM on Sun, Sep 22, 2024:
Funny how BIDEN IS TOO OLD TO BE PRESIDENT was the BUT HER EMAILS of 2024 but Trump running for president part-time b/c, among other reasons, “he’s older” is a throwaway line in @mikeallen Sunday tip sheet 🙃 https://t.co/65eFZxTzM4
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1837846325146120695?t=D7n89MvD9hbVVC34alEq6Q&s=03)
trollhattan
The heat, am glad to be rid of. (Wait, what’s the forecast say? 94, 96, 95 through Tuesday. Frack.) But the shorter days are unwelcome and of course, the return to standard time come election week. It’s like a message or something.
Plant life around here, from lawns to century-old trees, looks battered and humiliated and exhausted after the hottest summer on record. Who can blame it? Who can guess how much will be alive come next spring?
In honor of Ozark: Blech.
eclare
According to The Weather Channel, here in Memphis the high today is 92, tomorrow is 90, Tuesday is 82, then it’s the 70’s. Yay!
UncleEbeneezer
@rikyrah: For 2-3 weeks, it is positively the most gorgeous place in the world. The rest of the year…not so much…
Hungry Joe
POSTCARD UPDATE — BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! (Well, okay — a couple of people asked.)
So far: Completed 500 of my own, plus a couple dozen of Ms. Joe’s. She doesn’t write nearly as many as I do, but she phone banks, which I am temperamentally incapable of doing.
Just received a new batch of 100, this time for Arizona. This afternoon we’re attending a neighborhood postcard-writing party, which probably won’t be as productive as writing them alone but will surely be more fun.
rikyrah
Armando (@ArmandoNDK) posted at 9:00 AM on Sun, Sep 22, 2024:
But it’s not just Democrats- it’s the Media as well. Trump is in trouble according to the polls and no Media is writing that.
The unstated assumption is Trump is 2-3 points better than his polling. In terms of horse race journalism- which is what these folks do, bad work.
(https://x.com/ArmandoNDK/status/1837854400724816181?t=Un5nFIw6ciP4pz2Mtjfo8A&s=03)
Dorothy A. Winsor
After all those years of school, autumn always feels like a new beginning to me.
Sister Golden Bear
@BR: That’s the great thing about California, I can visit snow, not shovel it
Here in the Bay Area, September/October tend to be our best weather. Especially SF, since it’s not fogged in the way it typically is during the summer.
rikyrah
@Hungry Joe:
Whoo hoo 🙌🏽 🙌🏽 🙌🏽
trollhattan
@Another Scott: Heh.
a. WAY too much time on somebody’s hands.
ii. Time well spent. Here’s hoping a Cybertruck captain sees it.
New Deal democrat
Ok, native Buffalonian here. I have to speak up with some favorables for upstate NY.
– gorgeous summers – typical highs high 70s to high 80s, lows in the low 60s. Before global warming, you only needed A/C for a few weeks in August at night.
– winters are actually warmer than most places in the upper Midwest like Chicago
– if you are not in the snow belt, I.e., if west of you is the Niagara River and not Lake Erie, you rarely get the blizzards they do.
– in the warmer months, the lakes and beaches are only minutes away. A few not too shabby nature attractions you may have heard of.
– people are generally very friendly, like midwesterners, as opposed to some other places
– chicken wings, beef on weck, cupped and charred pepperoni pizza, Ted’s hot dogs
Upstate NY was killed by the St. Lawrence Seaway. It made the Erie Canal a relic. And A/C like everywhere else up north.
TBone
@UncleEbeneezer: I can imagine – that’s like a Harold and Maude situation almost! I feel very lucky that my parents took care to instill their strong antiwar views and values to my brother and I. Including taking us to see Harold and Maude and many other movies and shows that could be considered by people of lesser mettle as age inappropriate for youngsters.
eclare
@Yarrow:
Agree. I hibernate in the summer, not winter. As someone said, I can always put on more clothes or get under a blanket. I just hate that the days are getting shorter.
BR
@Gin & Tonic:
I dunno, when we were in Western Mass, it was definitely 5 months of winter. We often had snow in late October and it’d be around through April.
eclare
@HinTN:
St. George Island is my favorite beach! I went several times when I lived in ATL, and it was a six hour drive away. Now it’s twelve hours away, and it’s been years.
I’m so jealous!
UncleEbeneezer
For any Fahionistas here, Hulu has an excellent series called In Vogue: The 90’s which is all about Vogue magazine and the changing fashion terrain of the decade. It has some really great footage of fashion shows and editorials from the time period. The finally episode featured a short segment on Hillary’s photoshoot with Annie Liebowitz and her first experimenting with fashion by wearing Donna Karan’s cold-shoulder dress, that apparently created quite the controversy because, of course, anything Hillary did was a controversy at the time. But the show had a hilarious moment wear they showed Hillary looking absolutely stunning and powerful and cool, followed by compare/contrast pictures of Barbara Bush and Nancy Reagan looking completely the opposite. Anna Wintour and Karan also absolutely gush about their love and admiration for Hillary.
Sister Golden Bear
@Another Scott: I suspect it’s better built than the original.
cain
No northwest people checked in yet. But we only have 8 weeks of summer at least historically and they were very pleasant. And the rains would come in October so fall is usually kind of miserable quickly.
These days, we have summer, then hot summer and then mild temperatures and then the rains come around end of October.
We don’t get the same wet winter like we used to where you don’t see the sun for 3 months. But it’s still plenty wet and cold and high humidity.
BR
@rikyrah:
Every once in a while someone posts a clip of Trump from the 2015/2016 campaign and it’s actually shocking. One time I almost thought I was watching a Trump impersonator who was wearing a smooth rubbery mask, because he not only looked way younger but actually could speak fluidly (even if the stuff that came out of his mouth was horrible and made no sense).
Tony Jay
I feel seen!
As a pale-blue child of the Milky Tribe I cannot stand Summer. It’s too bright for my eyes. Too humid to be comfortable at night. The sun burns me in discrete triangular strips and if it’s really ‘summery’ I get all three, plus higher energy bills for running fans 24/7.
Autumn, however, is the shizzle.
Nukular Biskits
Seeing a lot of discussion about something called “seasons” here. Must be some new word invented by the yutes.😉
Born, raised here in MS so I’m not too worried about the temperature in Hell should I eventually wind up there. Will admit, though, that the past few years have been hotter, both literally and in terms of how my aging body is dealing with it.
Actual fall for us, at least in the southern half of the state, really starts about mid-October.
FastEdD
Aww, BC. Cherish your partner. That’s the best stuff in life.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Buffalo is cold and snowy, but the Adirondacks are worse.
I was still living in Syracuse, where I grew up, when I remember a bunch of Caribbean refugees being sent to Fort Drum. In wintertime. I felt really bad for them. This would have been around 1980-81.
As kids, we’d always check the weather report for Fort Drum so we could think, “well it may be cold but at least it’s not THAT cold.” Temperatures way WAY below zero were typical.
Moving to MD and seeing 100-degree summer days for the first time in my life was a shock. I think I’d never quite believed that humans lived anywhere where the temperature was over 90. I will always take a blizzard over a hot humid day.
As for fall? What’s the big deal? One week all the leaves turn brown and then fall off the trees, and then a few weeks later the snow starts. Never quite saw the attraction of spring (mud and slush season) either.
I must admit here in southeast PA those are very pretty seasons.
RaflW
@SandyZ: I won’t spend too much time pre-dreading it, but every fall I feel like wearing a black armband on “fall back” Sunday.
I’m not bothered by the hour change in terms of circadian stuff. I travel a lot, time changes are pffft for me (ok, the ten hour change to/from Kenya was a bit much).
But we in MN plunge to a sunset before 5p.m. at changeover, and we don’t see the sun after 5pm again until ~January 18th. It’s miserable. Plus November is often our most cloud-covered month.
So I do get some autumnal melancholy. I medicate by planning snowboarding trips.
rikyrah
scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) posted at 7:34 AM on Sun, Sep 22, 2024:
Torching your career to become Page Six fodder is a choice and all these journos rushing to Nuzzi’s defense confirm that when it comes to members of their own team, they will excuse behavior they would torch anyone else for engaging in. https://t.co/KP9yIb6sGY
(https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1837832932842438899?t=vRGJOeBiJK59LHv11TltJw&s=03)
eclare
@Hungry Joe:
Yay! Have fun at your party.
Still working on mine for NC, but the mail date isn’t until Oct 15. They will be done.
zhena gogolia
@BR: Someone posted a clip the other day of him praising Kim Jong Un as if it had just happened. I remembered it from when he was POTUS. I looked at the clip and I could immediately tell it wasn’t recent. He has truly declined.
eclare
@UncleEbeneezer:
Thanks for the tip! I’ll check it out.
Hoodie
Summers here in eastern NC are worse than those I remember growing up outside of Atlanta. Spring is ok except for the godawful pollen. Winters are generally pretty mild, haven’t seen significant snow here in several years. Fall is the best season here, usually dry, clear, pleasant and typically lasting into December. Best time to go to the beach with lower humidity and fewer vacationers.
Hungry Joe
Re weather:
San Diego.
rikyrah
Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) posted at 8:20 AM on Sun, Sep 22, 2024:
WATCH: @SenFettermanPA reacts to Kamala Harris saying, “If somebody breaks in my house, they’re getting shot.”
@kwelkernbc: “Was it responsible … to make those comments?”
Sen. Fetterman: “Absolutely. … I think a vast majority of Americans would agree with that.” https://t.co/t4v7XkyrGP
(https://x.com/MeetThePress/status/1837844488414257446?t=07NYrgHdXiN9aTJUdpdLHg&s=03)
piratedan
@rikyrah: funny how the Beltway Bunch reacts the same way as the GOP when one of their own takes an arrow from exposing themselves by their own actions.
Scout211
Where I’m located in NorCal, we enjoyed fall weather a couple of weeks ago but the heat returns in full force this coming week. Tuesday should be the hottest at 101 here.
I hope that this is Mother Nature’s last blast of summer but it probably won’t be. I am happy to see the shorter days approach, though. It means more hours for evening and overnight cooling, so that helps a lot.
Re: the front page post, BC: My sister’s former husband was in the US Navy band his whole military career. He and some of his unit would play gigs at clubs around the world where they were deployed. It was a good experience for him. He got to play his music in the Navy band and also in different club gigs around the world, playing all kinds of different music genres.
I get why Bill was nope, but it worked for my former BIL.
surfk9
@Hungry Joe: Yup!
Ruckus
1969, been eligible for the draft for 2 yrs, Vietnam is still there, out of high school for 2 yrs, working. Every day coming home expecting to see that letter from DOD. Like thousands of others I can no longer take the waiting and joined up. 4 months later I’m leaving for training for hell. At least a substitute for it….
Over 50 yrs later I still can’t forget that 3 1/2 yrs in the USN, first day to last, it’s seared into this thing called a brain. At least I can say it could have been a lot worse. And was for many.
geg6
Fall is my favorite time of year. Sweaters and sweats. Cooler temps and fantastic fall leaves. The start of the fall semester (bittersweet this year). My birthday and Thanksgiving, which are almost always within a day or two or right on the same day (this year being the rare exception). Comfort foods. Full-bodied red wines. I love autumn!
Van Buren
@Spanky: Heat, humidity, and deerflies are the reasons I left Tidewater Virginia 40 years ago.
Anonymous At Work
Betty,
Here in SOUTH Florida, the summer ends when the weather says it ends, not when the calendar says it does.
Nukular Biskits
@Hungry Joe:
I love San Diego! Great weather. Great food. Great people.
StringOnAStick
I love to garden and have been on a landscaping tear since we moved here almost exactly 4 years ago, all major work completed this year so I’m looking forward to next spring being light gardening, no hardscaping. My favourite season is ski season, and I’m hoping for a Ia Nina powder year, since the one we had two years ago was quite nice!
Baud
@rikyrah:
What a stupid question to waste national airtime on.
realbtl
@Hungry Joe: Re San Diego. I think it was spending 20 years growing up where it’s always nice that made me love the seasons. A new wardrobe every 6 months plus there’s nothing better than a convertible ride on those cloudless windless 5º winter days.
Sure Lurkalot
Fall has long been my favorite season and I try to come to terms with the shortened daylight. I usually lose that battle in winter, mostly February which is the longest shortest month if a particularly gray one. Colorado is a damn sunny place so it was a good choice to mitigate the ups and downs. Still, over the 50 years I’ve lived here, summers have gotten hotter and drier so, au revoir, l’ete, bienvenue, l’automne.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Baud: Rhetorical question: Would anyone in the media react if that statement were made by one of the politicians who pose with AR-15s on their Christmas cards?
Hungry Joe
@realbtl: Re San Diego: When I want cold and snow, I drive to the mountains — 1-2 hours. When I want it hot, I drive to the desert — 2 hours. When I want ocean, I drive to the beach — 10 minutes.
I get that a lot of people love seasons, and I get that Home is Home, and most people just naturally love where they are. I simply ended up exactly where I belonged. It was about 80% luck, 20% volition.
bluefoot
@New Deal democrat:
As a former Buffalonian, I have to say you missed the best thing about Buffalo: the people. It really is the City the of Good Neighbors. What I don’t miss are the grey days in February, where it seems winter will go on forever.
zhena gogolia
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Only Democrats are supposed to be “responsible.”
Jackie
@Elizabelle: Worth repeating! 😁🤞🏻🍁
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
And not old.
rikyrah
Every once in awhile, I just want some coffee….so, I had some for the first time in four months….
but, it was…sigh…
when I turned 40, my body decided that it didn’t like coffee anymore 😭
I used to do Dunkin – X Large, 5 days a week 😭😭
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
SoCal has 2 seasons Hot and cool. Before smog control in cars, even with far fewer numbers, summer was not near as nice as other parts of this planet. I’ve traveled a lot, Northern tip of Norway to Southern tip of New Zealand, Hawaii to most of Europe and many, many points in between, 46 states, missed Alaska and Wyoming. Been to Cuba 3 times. OK Guantanamo, but still on the island. It has been interesting, sailing from north of the Arctic Circle to Cuba, the east coast of the US to Europe. Of course that was in the USN….
New Deal democrat
@bluefoot: in re:
That’s what I was going for when I wrote “people are generally very friendly.”
The downside is that, like a lot of smaller cities, the situation is pretty bleak if you don’t fit in.
And yeah, the cold weather stretching on way past February is a major gownside.
that’s
@bluefoot:
Gvg
I hate the cold weather. Loved Florida summers. Best way to survive is to spend it swimming. My dad loved water skiing too.
Jackie
@RaflW:
Me, too. In WA it’s dark by 4:30; kids maybe get an hour of daylight after school before the streetlights start turning on. I don’t miss the 100 degrees summers (eastern WA,) but I sorely miss the long daylight hours.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Right. Not “in decline.”
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah: I miss coffee so much. I was on a work trip and the people kept guzzling coffee. I remember how great that felt. But I can’t do it any more. Not even decaf.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Finally got my lawn sign!
I ordered a Harris-Walz sign from the official campaign store during the convention. Never arrived. I’m guessing they were overwhelmed by orders.
So I looked up county Dem headquarters and just got a sign there. Also one for our excellent representative, Mary Gay Scanlon.
zhena gogolia
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: We put up our Harris-Walz sign today!
We’ll see how long it lasts.
Omnes Omnibus
I like having four seasons. I even like the cold of winter. I could do with summer being shorter than the other seasons, but I accept that I am a bit of an outlier with that. The time changes in the fall and spring don’t affect me for more than a few days. I am happiest in the Fall though. Even clothing-wise, it fits best with my personal style.
Another Scott
Another day ending in “y”… :-(
WVTM13.com:
The critics who complain that banning assault weapons won’t work because people can find ways around them are right in this limited respect – people will exploit loopholes. But weapons – of whatever shape or appearance – that can easily be turned into machine guns have no business being on America’s streets.
We need to vote the monsters out if we want to make progress and rejoin the civilized world…
Peace and comfort to the innocents,
Scott.
Tony G
My father grew up in Buffalo, before moving to New Jersey as a young man. He had contempt for New Jersey winters, seeing them as pallid and wimpy compared to the heroic winters of Buffalo. He never moved back to Buffalo though!
Kristine
My favorite season is a blend of late spring/early summer. Everything’s bright green, flowers have opened with more on the way, and the temps are (usually) perfect high 60s/low 70s. Revitalization after the sleep of winter.
I live in NE Illinois, so while I enjoy autumn colors, they come with a reminder to check out the snow thrower and see if it requires repairs. The last few lawn mowings will be for mulching leaves because the grass has already called it a day.
Craig
I love the way you write. There’s something spare, purposeful, and elegant about your posts that I admire. Truth as well. Thanks.
Another Scott
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: It took a long time for the stickers I ordered to arrive.
They now have Free downloads of yard sign templates and similar things.
I still don’t see any magnets. :-( I guess the easy-peel stickers are supposed to replace them. That’s fine.
Cheers,
Scott.
Anoniminous
So furious I’m spitting nails.
Montana Online Voting System Taken Down After Kamala Harris Left Off Absentee Ballots
mvr
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Still waiting for our signs.
Signed up at a sign at local D headquarters last week since they were out. As well as down-ballot signs. I did get one for county treasurer or whomever runs DMV. Good person I contribute to but I want to put my signs up in a bunch along with the Harris sign, so I’m waiting to put it out. Then paid $25 on the Harris website to get one by mail and am waiting for it to arrive. Wanted some car magnets but didn’t find those there – only stickers. So I bought magnets I liked the style of on Etsy and they came yesterday.
David_C
@New Deal democrat: Have to agree. Native of the West Side. Moved to Kentucky in 1983 and have endured miserable summers in KY, PA, and MD. My Puritanical roots lead me to believe that if we haven’t suffered through winter, we don’t deserve spring, but in fact, it’s nice to have the dreariness – kind of a film noir feeling. Buffalo has amazing architecture and much of the Olmsted design remains. Then there’s the food – Ted’s, Duffs, Bocce Club, beef on weck anywhere. Some revival, particularly on the waterfront, adds to the charm.
mvr
@Anoniminous: Hard to think this was an accident, given how hard it would be to miss and the bias of the official in charge. But I suppose it could be. Still incompetence is not what one is looking for in a Secretary of State.
Mousebumples
@Hungry Joe: woo hoo! Thanks for the update and your continued efforts.
SpaceUnit
Late to the party as usual, but it’s refreshing to know I’m not the only person on earth who has little use for summer. Most people seem to live for it.
I mean, I get it. We were all kids once, and summer meant vacation. So I can understand why people go their entire lives associating summer with freedom, youth and fun. But goddamn. There’s not a thing I want to do when it’s 90+ degrees outside. Give me twelve months of autumn and we’ll call it paradise.
Kayla Rudbek
@peter: yeah, we’re still having to run our AC here in Northern Virginia in September. As a Minnesotan, this annoys me. September is supposed to be the time to leave the windows open to air out the house.
tybee
i love summer. i look forward to the first 90 degree day. heat doesn’t bother me like it does most folks.
the only two things i’m allergic to are hard work and cold weather.
Matt McIrvin
@rikyrah: I actually suspect that for the vast majority of people, the whole idea of having a gun in the house for personal defense is dangerously misguided. The chance that that gun is going to hurt or kill you, or someone you love, is far greater than the chance that it’ll protect you in any way.
However…
Kayla Rudbek
@jonas: and you have the New York Sheep and Wool festival coming up October 19-20, the biggest one in the US. Cider donuts and everyone in their new handknit sweaters and shawls. Hopefully they will have good weather for it.
Geoduck
Old joke: “I’m gonna sling this snow shovel over my shoulder and start walking south. When someone asks me, ‘What’s that you’ve got over your shoulder?’, that’s where I’ll live.”
Ruviana
In honor of the season:
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/
Spanish Moss
@HinTN: Ahh, the memories… I love that place. I went to FSU for both undergrad and grad school, and St. George Island was absolutely my favorite getaway.
Betty, I hear you about summer, I hate that Southern heat and humidity too. I grew up in AL and thought the heat and humidity couldn’t be worse, but Tallahassee proved me wrong. At least I was somewhat used to it then and still managed outdoor activities. Now that I live in MA (where summers are lovely), when I visit family down south I wilt in less than 5 minutes outside.
Sherparick
@UncleEbeneezer: What he sould have said “you can be a musician & get paid in the military & travel the world.”
Betty
October is my favorite month based on growing up in Pennsylvania’s woods. November starts getting too dark and dreary. Where I am now in the Caribbean, Dominica to be specific, it has been hot for far too long with no relief yet. According to the weather report, with the humidity it feels like 102 here today. No breeze despite our higher elevation and wooded surroundings. At least we have been spared any bad storms this year for which I am very grateful.
Happy to see your photos and posts, Betty. Wishing you many more pleasant days to enjoy your swamp.
Tony G
@Matt McIrvin: Famously, Ronald Reagan become a supporter of gun control as governor of California when he saw Black Panthers walking around with guns.
Steve LaBonne
@Matt McIrvin: You should more than suspect, there are plenty of data to indicate that you are less safe with a gun in your house. But what you said after “However” is also reality.
Tony G
@mvr: I paid for a couple of Harris a couple of weeks ago and they still haven’t been delivered yet. I am seriously angry at the disorganization and irresponsibility of her campaign. Obviously I’ll vote for her no matter what, but I am pissed.
Steve LaBonne
Right around now begins what is normally (whatever normal even means nowadays) by far the loveliest time of year in Northeast Ohio. But the high today where I live will be 87, and also we’re in a drought. Thank goodness climate change is just a liberal hoax.
gkoutnik
@TBone: Hey – Bucknell ’72 here! They never had fireworks when I was there.
Hungry Joe
@Ruckus: When we’d drive to L.A. the late ‘60s and early ‘70s — especially in the summer — around Orange County the air would start to get yellow-ish. The farther north we drove the darker it got, until there was a layer of dark yellow-brown on the horizon, and the rest of the sky was yellow-blue. We didn’t have it that bad, but I remember that in late summer and early fall we hating having to run till we were out of breath because we’d all get sharp smog pain in the middle of our chests. Hurt like hell.
That yellow-brown blanket started fading away in the late ‘70s with the implementation of dreaded government emission regulations. Less freedom (to pollute)!
citizen dave
@Ruviana: I’ve been gourd-a-fied at the state fair by the Indiana Gourd Society.
This thread made this Neil Young lyric pop into my head (getting a jump on the Medium Cool thread):
“Little Wing”
All her friends call her little wing
But she flies rings around them all
She comes to town when the children sing
And leaves them feathers if they fall
She leaves her feathers if they fall
Little wing, don’t fly away
When the summer turns to fall
Don’t you know some people say
The winter is the best time of them all
Winter is the best of all.
Betty Cracker
@FastEdD: I do! So glad the weather drove him to my vicinity! :-)
Betty Cracker
@New Deal democrat: Buffalo is a beautiful city, and the surrounding countryside is gorgeous. I agree the people are nice and the food is wonderful. I’ll never forget seeing the Great Lakes for the first time! I’ve only visited in summer, but I’d definitely go in the winter if Bill was willing. He is not!
Soprano2
I like summer, always have, even though it can get miserable here in SWMO. I like how green everything is, and how it’s always warm. I like fall except I know what comes next – winter and the cold. At least I have a reliable gas furnace now. We can have beautiful falls, but it’s probably not going to be pretty this year because rain has been scarce since the 3rd week of August. It rained about 1/2″ here yesterday, and it might rain again today, but it’s not nearly enough.
Dangerman
My version of steak sandwich.
Nap. Steak. Nap.
DFH
Betty, thank you.
A Ghost to Most
Meh. I grew up outside Buffalo. Omaha is brutally cold in winter, not Buffalo. I learned that after being stationed in Omaha.
phdesmond
welcome, Fall. thank you, Betty C!
wjca
Clearly you have never been involved in software QA. The incredible oversights I have seen! From people with no possible motivation to make them deliberately.
Not saying it couldn’t have been deliberate. But I’d blame incompetent, or nonexistent, QA as my first choice.
Westyny
@TBone: I thought Amsterdam was great fun with a sober undercurrent of “this-actually-happened.” Also, the “art” was a thoughtful take on the Surrealist photo-collage that was current in Europe around the period.
Westyny
We’ve had beautiful late summer weather in the Hudson Valley. And I hope you’re firmly on the road to recovery, Betty C.
Tony G
@citizen dave: Great lyric. I’ll have to check out the song. Not to be confused about the Hendrix song “Little Wing”. That’s one of many things that I’ve never understood about copyright law. How can it be legal to have two different songs with the same title?
Jacel
To celebrate the equinox, here’s another band’s (not mine) performance of “Autumn Silhouette” by Harold Walters, an original concert band composition. I found a set of this piece on eBay several years ago, and it has become a favorite of a band I conduct. I never heard of “Autumn Silhouette” previously, but just about anything composed or arranged by Harold Walters has been effective for concert band.
NotMax
Semi-obligatory.
Jonathan and Darlene, Autumn in New York.
:)
Origuy
I was in Sweden in 1984 or so on a business trip. I was at our Swedish customer support guy’s apartment with some other people on the trip. We watched some pop music show like Eurovision and agreed that the winner was Nena. The first time I’d ever heard 99 Luftballoons.
Another Scott
@Tony G: If not snark…
I suspect that they are simply swamped. We learned during the pandemic that it’s impossible to go from nothing (e.g. Biden-Harris, no Harris alone, no Harris-Walz) to demand in the millions for Biden-Harris stuff instantly.
Hang in there.
Cheers,
Timill
@wjca: Indeed – you check all the fiddling little stuff: all the minor placings and their correct citations. The major players don’t get the same level of attention because you just know they’re right.
wjca
If you do QA very long, you lose that innocent assumption. Ask me how I know.
Nukular Biskits
Late entry: Don’t know why I didn’t think of this earlier.
@Jacel‘s post about autumn-related songs brought this to mind:
Willie Nelson – September Song
Oh, it’s a long long while
From May to December
But the days grow short
When you reach September
When the autumn weather
Turns leaves to flame
One hasn’t got time
For the waiting game
Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I’ll spend with you
These precious days
I’ll spend with you
Oh, the days dwindle down
To a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days
I’ll spend with you
These precious days
I’ll spend with you
These precious days
I’ll spend with you
NotMax
@Nukular Biskits
Classic rendition by The Schnozz.
Gloria DryGarden
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: did you go up to see the colors? The pictures people have been posting show more oranges and reds than usual, pretty beautiful. It would be amazing, uplifting to see it.
I dread the traffic, and think there might be snow fairly low down, so I didn’t go.
Gloria DryGarden
@prostratedragon: wonderful. Most expressive chamber ensemble I’ve seen. The way they look at each other and look happy..
plus, they have a lutenist. Lute music makes everything better.
Tehanu
I always tell the same joke about the seasons in Los Angeles:
We have four seasons too — rainy season, mudslide season, the Oscars, and escrow!
Geminid
@Nukular Biskits: Kurt Weill wrote the music for “September Song,” Maxwell Anderson the lyrics. Great song.
Walter Huston sang “September Song” in the 1938 Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday. Huston later played the crusty old prospector who teamed up with Humprey Bogart and Tim Holt to look for the Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Craig
@Geminid: He was also Sierra Madre director John Huston’s father.
rikyrah
@Anoniminous:
Done deliberately😠😠😠😠😠
NotMax
@Craig
A bona fide star in his own right. Dodsworth, The Devil and Daniel Webster, etc.
wjca
You left out
drywildfire season.Gretchen
I’m with Bill. I grew up in Detroit and lived a long time in Chicago. I started to get depressed every fall when the days got shorter, dreading the 8 months of cold and snow. Summer is still my favorite season, but once I lived in Kansas for a few years I realized I didn’t need the September drawing-in any more. We have warmish, sunny days occasionally even in January, so we don’t have to dread the long cold slog of gray days and dirty snow.