The seasons each have their own allure. It seems that each comes just as the previous season is starting to be less exciting than it was initially. Fall has come just as we are thinking we would never get past the hot, humid sweaty days of summer. The crops are getting ripe. Children are carving pumpkins and picking out costumes to wear for Halloween.
My favorite associations with fall, aside from colorful fallen leaves and that pastel shade of yellow that the sunlight has taken on, is such classics as Ray Bradbury’s The October Country and the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe. There are plenty of others, Harvest Home and The Lottery come to mind, but Poe and Bradbury are always the first stories of fall that come to mind.
I discovered one of my favorite musical artists thanks to Poe. Sarah Jarosz set Poe’s Annabelle Lee to music (and adjusted the lyrics slightly to fit the rhythm and rhyme of the song form) and I heard her play it on All Things Considered. I checked out the rest of that album and became a devoted fan.
Another dark story that has presented itself this fall is Bladerunner 2049. I was very pleased with how it turned out. It was better than practically any sequel that we have been subjected to in recent years. It carries the story from the original smoothly forward while having its own story to tell. Highly recommended to fans of the original. It is probably a good idea to take a look at the original before viewing the new movie. Lots of subtle tie ins would be easy to miss if you haven’t seen it recently.
Fall is when the apples come in and the Athens State Fiddler’s Convention is held. Unfortunately I missed Fiddler’s and I haven’t made it to any of our orchards yet. Perhaps if the weather holds we will make it to the orchard this weekend.
Iron and Wine has come out with a new album this fall. It is called Beast Epic and I’m looking forward to picking it up. I’ll review it in some detail after I’ve had a listen to it. I found out about it when my issue of Wood & Steel, the Taylor Guitar magazine, included an interview with Sam Beam, the creative force behind Iron and Wine. As I should have figured out, he too is a Taylor guitar fan.
Sweet dreams, don’t forget to tell the ones you love that you love them, and most important of all, be kind.