My Favorite Time of Year!

It’s the fall equinox, technically the first day of autumn, and I love it! Fall has always been my favorite time of year. So, I celebrated by having my first cup of coffee with Coffee-Mate Pumpkin Spice Creamer. NO jokes please, I’ve heard all the jokes about white girls, pumpkin-spice and yoga pants. I don’t wear yoga pants at the gym; I’m more of a training tights kind of guy. I heard a rumor that gyms in the area might open sometime next month….which gives me time to drop a few more pounds because being 20 pounds overweight doesn’t look good in spandex. I really miss the gym, working with my trainer, and then hopping in the elliptical trainer for about an hour to burn off calories. I had an elliptical trainer in Chicago, but we decided not to bring it to the California. A big mistake. I’m hoping the hubby will buy me a new one, and we can put it in the guest room...making room by switching the bed to a sleeper sofa. Anyhow, I miss the gym...plus there’s plenty of eye candy around. Isn’t there a mandate that all Gay men in the Coachella Valley have to work out?

But back to Fall. I love this time of year, especially before Daylight Savings Time kicks in….there’s something about the outside being pitch black at 5:00 which irks me. Maybe it’s because it heralds the approaching winter, which can be very rough in Chicago. Thankfully, we don’t have that problem of bitter cold and snow in California. Although the weather has been so wonky everywhere, who can tell what might happen here!

But fall in Chicago is pretty wonderful. The air becomes crisp, and the leaves start turning wonderful yellows, golds and reds. It almost makes up for the hassle of raking them up. And at our house in Chicago, there would be so many leaves falling over several weeks that I’d have to rake our small yard at least three times. After raking them up and packing them in several large yard refuse bags, I’d always wish I had a compost tumbler. But our yard was too small for it. And there’s really no need for it here. I mean, how much rich dark potting soil do you need in a desert landscape? And for winter, I always wanted a snow blower, and boy did I ever get one!

I asked the hubby for one for my 50th Birthday. Now, I we were having a party to celebrate, and the guests were my theatre chums, longtime friends and several members of my Southern Baptist family (which Tim arranged to fly to Chicago as a surprise). Well, they certainly got a surprise at my party, when almost every present I received was a bottle of wine or booze. Tim gave me a nice card with a picture of a snow blower in it (since none were available at Home Depot…it being August). Well, when I showed off the picture, Tim’s sister blurted out loudly, “A snow blower?! What kind of present is that for a GAY MAN!?” Up until that point, I’m sure my family was holding onto the unlikely idea that Tim might just be my roommate, with whom I bought a house and with whom I happened to share a bedroom. So whatever little rosebud of deniability they held onto withered on the vine.

But back to autumn…I especially love it for Halloween, which is my favorite holiday. Some people prefer Christmas, but I’ve found Christmas to be a little sentimental and proper for my tastes. No, Halloween is garish, trashy, campy and just plain fun. We used to decorate our house with small hay bales, corn stalks and pumpkins bedecked with orange, green and purple midget lights. And on Halloween we’d always get dressed up in costume to hand out candy to the kids, before heading to a friend’s Halloween bash. Of course, living in gated community, we don’t have any treat-or-treaters; I think the average age here is 50…maybe we should go house to have knocking on doors and asking for shots of fireball! Maybe I’ll suggest it next year after this damn pandemic has been eliminated or at least tamed.

Horror films are a year-round treat for me, and during this season almost every cable station shows them almost non-stop. . You can keep you Hallmark Christmas Movies…you know, overworked big city girl returns home and after an hour of flirting with the flannel shirted local hunk, there’s an easily resolved complication and love wins out...usually a small precocious child and/or adorable dog is involved. Nope, give me zombies, monsters, and crazed killer clowns. I love them all. My poor hubby tolerates my viewing eccentricities, with the exception of insect movies……he absolutely hates bugs!

So maybe this year we’ll get dressed (including Lizzie) and promenade the neighborhood, keeping the Halloween spirit alive…..and bring joy to those we encounter. Because Halloween, like all holidays is about friendship and celebration. Let’s keep it alive in our hearts during this time. And next year, we’ll have a Halloween celebration to remember for years to come.