Autumn is Coming! 2016 Edition

32 More Days Until Autumn!

Fall starts September 22, 2016.  Looking west along the Chicago River in Chicago's North Park neighborhood.

For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Autumn is really not that far away...  32 more days! Autumn greets us (or we greet Autumn) on September 22 at 9:21 a.m. Central Daylight Time, this year, 2016.  That's 10:21 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 7:21 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, and 14:21 UTC (Universal Coordinated Time).  

After a long stretch of humid, 85+ degree days here in August, Autumn (or Fall), with beautiful bright days and cool nights, is very welcome!    

Just in case you can't quite remember the science of the Autumnal Equinox, which is the time when the sun appears to cross the equator and the days and night are of equal length, here's a primer from Wikipedia:

The September equinox (or Southward equinox) is the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading southward. Due to differences between the calendar year and the tropical year, the September equinox can occur at any time from the 21st to the 24th day of September. 

At the equinox, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west. Before the Southward equinox, the sun rises and sets more and more to the north, and afterwards, it rises and sets more and more to the south. In the Northern Hemisphere the September equinox is known as the autumnal equinox. In the Southern Hemisphere it is known as the vernal or spring equinox.

And just in case you forgot that the tilt of the Earth is responsible for the seasons, here's a good link that explains that whole thing.

So.. what do we have to look forward to this Autumn?

September

To me, September has always meant the start of school even though most kids start school before Labor Day in the US now.  I guess I'm a traditionalist at heart.  Tomatoes and zinnias are bountiful in early September, and it's time to get the last barbecue of summer fired up.  In our family, we celebrate many September birthdays.

Labor Day is late this year, 2016, on Monday, September 5th!  By the end of the month, the nights are cooler, and the leaves are starting to change colors.  Chrysanthemums and asters (Michaelmas daisies) are in bloom, and we celebrate a few more family birthdays.  Farmer's Markets are overflowing.  And another football season begins.

October

October is full of beauty, golden and red colors, gourds, squashes, especially pumpkins, haystacks and hayrides, and the last apples straight from the orchards.  In our family, another birthday or two.. and, this year, a big wedding!

Then we move on to witches, ghosts, goblins and Halloween.. and the end of Daylight Savings Time as we plunge into those longer, dark nights.  Halloween is on a Monday this year.. Not a great day for Halloween, but that's just the way it is.  Daylight Savings Time ends early Sunday morning, November 6th, 2016.  "Fall behind" and enjoy that extra hour of sleep!

November

November brings Thanksgiving in the United States (November 24 this year, 2016) and the start of the Christmas holiday season.  As a kid, November always seemed just cold and grey, but now that I'm older, I really appreciate the peaceful quality of November.  The gardening is done; the craziness of the Christmas season hasn't yet started, and those empty branches against the deep blue of an early sunset are always stunning.  Then we usually have a few magical sparkling snowflakes sometime in November.

Apple Cobbler, Soups, Stews, and Meatloaf

I absolutely refuse to turn on the oven when the air conditioning is running, so Autumn means a return to baking, casseroles, breads, soups and stews.  I always promise myself that I will try more new recipes than I actually do, but I'm definitely going to make that wonderful apple cobbler with home-whipped whipped cream that I made almost every year when my son was little.. if I can find the recipe.  And there will definitely be meatloaves and lasagna.  Definitely! 

The Countdown Starts!

So let's start counting down those days until Autumn....  32 days until Autumn today.  (It's Sunday, August 21st, 2016.)  Every week will be a little cooler, a little more pleasant than the hot weeks we've had recently.  It will be nice not to have to water as often.  And we've all started to notice how early sunset comes these days.  I'll miss the long evenings, but it will be great to have lower air conditioning bills starting in mid-September.

I Miss My Mommy.. A Mother's Day Tribute

A tribute to my Mommy... and to all of those Mommies in heaven everywhere...

(Originally written for Mother's Day 2016)

I think I had the best Mommy in the world.

She was kind, loving, hard working, fiercely loyal, selfless, and joyous... And she had a great singing voice!

I remember her singing show tunes and tunes from the 40's and 50's when we were little.  We grew up with song and it made everything seem better.  I have always loved to sing, but I did not inherit my mother's wonderful voice.  She joined a Mother Singers group when we were in school, and it brought her great joy.    

Mommy and me Spring 1953

My Mom loved Judy Garland.  In the days before cable, DVD's, and movies on demand, Meet Me in St. Louis would often be on the T.V. on Christmas Eve.  Years after I moved out, I remember scurrying home, to my Mom and Dad's home, to watch Meet Me in St. Louis with my mother.  I can never see any Judy Garland movie without thinking of my Mom.

Mom with the two of us, early 1954

When we were older...

Mom would do just about anything for us.. Isn't that what Moms do?

One year when my sister was enrolled at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, a dog bit her and then ran off.  The people at the ISU health center told her that, unless they found the dog and verified that the dog had his/her rabies shots, my sister would have to go through a painful rabies series.  My sister called my Mom in great distress.  My Mom was not going to let that happen; she got in her car and drove down to Normal that afternoon to help my sister track down that dog.

I don't remember the details, but she and my sister drove around, went to the local newspaper to insist that they put a notice in the paper to find the dog, and went to the animal control department to look at rabies records.  My mother would not quit until they found that dog.  They eventually did find the dog; the dog had had his/her rabies shot, and my sister was fine; crisis averted.. Thanks to Mom!

Kent State Riots

When the Kent State riots broke out when I was a freshman at Northern Illinois University back in 1970, my Mom and Dad drove up to school to get me.. over my protests.  Everything was fine; I told my mom; the campus had quieted down, no need for me to come home.  But my Mom would have none of it.  I was angry at Mom, of course; I was 18 and had a new boyfriend.  But she and my dad cared enough to get in the car after a long day of work and come and get me.. just to make sure I was OK.  Their trip looks very different from the perspective of 2016 than it did 46 years ago back in 1970.

Driving Practice..

When I was 16 my Mom took over driving practice after I came home in tears after a driving session with my Dad.  I refused to go driving with him any more.  I can still remember my mother upbraiding him, "For heaven's sake, Chuck.  What did you do?  Why is the kid crying?"  It was much better to drive with my Mom anyway.  She drove the pretty new Malibu Blue 1967 Impala with power brakes and power steering, while my Dad drove the lumbering 1960 Chevy Impala with no power anything.  The next year when it was my sister's turn to drive, my Mom just started driving with her from the get go.

She was great.

She worried for us, cried about us, laughed with us, endured three bouts with cancer (and survived), yelled at us when we were slobs, and was just always there.  She pounded on doors and made phone calls on our behalf.  She drove us everywhere, put up with our adolescent insanity, and I never questioned her love; never questioned her absolute deep commitment towards her two children.  She loved us equally and unconditionally.  

And when we had our kids, she was the absolutely best Grandma that any kid could ever have.  

I will never get over losing my Mom.  I hope that somewhere in heaven she is still singing those show tunes with the angels.

Love you, Mom!  Happy Mother's Day!