Better late than never, as they say. Autumn came in dribs and drabs this year, with the accent on the drab – tan, brown, and sepia tones dominated early fall, with bright, brilliant colors a rarity, but now that the ghosties and ghoulies have been (mostly) packed away, a few shots of bitter cold have turned what’s left of summer’s foliage into a stunning panoply of red, yellow and orange.
On Wednesday, November 3, 2021, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19, sparking a controversy over his previously unrevealed unvaccinated status. Rodgers had earlier described himself as “immunized” for the coronavirus, parsing his words carefully so as not to expose his actual vaccination refusal. The NFL superstar experienced COVID symptoms Tuesday, and tested positive the following day, triggering a mandatory 10-day suspension from play.
I’m your tour guide, Uncle Alex Nosferatu! The 2021 All-Spooks Festival features a new and expanded garden venue, filled with creeps and chills, and Halloween fun for boils and ghouls of all ages.
In Part One of this article, we looked at the placement of asteroid Lameia, named for a mythic progenitress of the vampire, in the charts of literary individuals who were instrumental in popularizing this undead creature, and crafting our modern image of it. Part Two will focus on the individuals and films who brought the vampire to “life” on the screen.
It’s that season again – fall! Cool, bright days, crisp clear nights, nature pulling out all the stops on its color palette, displaying all its tones in a vibrant burst of life before winter’s slumber. Autumn is my favorite time of year, and not just because it includes Halloween! Before the ghosties and ghoulies and long-leggedly beasties come out to play, there’s falling leaves, tangy apple cider, pumpkins and gourds galore, and a riot of color in the September garden.
As August waxes, the garden wanes. With the entrenched heat and increased drought, the riot of color that was early summer and July fades to straw and dun tones as Lammas passes, and only pockets of vibrancy remain to remind one of the garden’s heyday. I used to trim back spent or dying vegetation quicky, but I’m eco-systemically “woke” now, and realize that lots of critters depend on this garden detritus for their winter shelter, so I (try to) embrace the bleak, apocalyptic landscape emerging. (Well, it’ll be good for Hallowe’en, right?) Many early autumn bloomers are still budded, but some are starting to reveal their beauty, and a few summer stragglers fight bravely on.
