October Thoughts Day 17: Rickety Bridge Adventures

I'm still a guest at the most unhaunted hotel in America. If it is haunted it would be by the very polite ghost of Laura Ashley or else by someone who really likes foofy wallpaper and teacups. I knew going in that this wasn't the most likely place for a spooktacular occurrence, but I came prepared nevertheless. I brought a book about a haunted house with me to fuel my imagination and I have two roommates who I can feed to ghosts while I make my getaway should anything untoward happen. Sorry girls. I don't have to run fast, just faster than you.

I  waited in keen anticipation to meet the things that go bump in the night, but so far the only spooky noises have come from the housekeeping crew that is vigorously cleaning the room above me and the only thing going bump in the night is my hip against the bedstead in the dark. So on the whole, not very scary. But, I did get to go on adventure.

My roommates and I piled into Princess Kia and drove down the mountainside in search of a swinging bridge that we had seen signs for coming up. During our search we made many stops to clamber over rocks and roots like goats and take pictures of the beautiful water and scenery. Sometimes we went together, sometimes someone stayed behind. On one such occasion I had scrambled down to the rapids to take pictures. My roommates were scattered looking at other things but always visible. I filled up my photo card and hiked back up to the car, but when I got there, my fellow adventurers were no where to be seen. There was just me, the lonely mountain and the car, which of course was locked. I looked over the ledge back down to the water to see if I could spy them. Nothing. I looked in the car and around the car. No go. No cars were passing us on the mountain road and my first thought was "this is how horror movies start." Three ladies out for a trip, telling no one where they are going. Nothing happens, nothing happens, and then two of the three disappear.

I checked the waters edge down below again, climbed halfway down and looked, but there was still no sign of them. Calling out was pointless because the roar of the water was so loud that unless you were right next to the person you wouldn't hear anything. So I climbed back up for another look and still no one. What was an adventurer to do? I went and sat in the shade to wait and eventually they showed back up again, but there were a few tense moments. If it had been a movie I would have been designated the "final girl" Had my friends run into a mountain lion? Perhaps zombies had crawled out from under the rocks to sip some brains. Maybe crazed mountain men had absconded with them and driven off in their rusted out truck. Really, anything could have happened. I was glad to see them safe.

So, after all those scenic stops and a brief interlude at a closed campsite we were losing hope in finding our bridge. We decided that incredibly intrepid adventurers such as ourselves needed ice cream and we decided to pack it in and head back to the non haunted hotel. But, as we were heading home, I spied the very bridge we were looking for out of the corner of my eye. There it was in all its glory, stretched out on steel cables and wood, hanging above the moving water below. We were so excited. I couldn't wait to cross.

Though I wish it had been longer, the bridge was everything I had hoped it would be. It swung a bit when you walked out on it. Some of the steel bars weren't quite bolted in all the way and once you got to the other side, you were met with forest and rail tracks that wound off into the distance. It was great. Once my roommates had made it back to the other side I ventured out on it by myself and jumped up and down, shook it from side to side and let my giggles roll down the canyon. I felt very Indian Jones out there in the middle. Granted, my bridge wasn't made of rope,  had less of a drop, and there were no alligators, or crazed Indian cult leaders were pursuing me, but a girl can still dream.

We were all very excited to have found our adventure. We did get our congratulatory ice cream and now I am curled by the fire awaiting the night when possibly I can coax a ghost or two out to play. All in all yet another wonderful October day.

October Thought Day 1: The Adventure Begins

I can't hardly believe my good luck but it is finally October again. I was ready for it in November, April and July. I was positively chomping at the bit in August. Usually I can exercise some self control and wait until my favorite month actually starts before I enjoy the seasonal bounty. Not this year, not even close. I have already had so many pumpkin spice lattes that I'm pretty sure my bloodstream runs orange. I've already watched 3 of my normal October movies and 3 more new ones. I've read a few October books and I've worn an October watch. I've bought October swag in non approved months, I've scouted several corn mazes, and bought a positively ginormous pumpkin. And am I sorry I did it, not one little bit.....ok, maybe a little, but I got over it fast and did more October stuff.

If you are new to the October Thoughts, welcome. If you are an old hat (or should I say, old pumpkin) and have hung in there with me through the years, thank you. I cherish the fact that I get to share my love of all things October with you. Thank you for letting me steal precious minutes out of your life to let me ramble.

Yes my little monsters and minions, October is finally here. Which leads me to my normal first October Thought, why do I like this month so much? Sometimes the reason is the same from year to year, sometimes different. I've thought long and hard about it, and for this year at least, here is my reasoning. I like magic. I like color. I like whimsy and things that scare me on my terms. I like monsters and spooky sounds, I like leaves and crunchy noises. I like dark nights and full moons, orange M n M's and pumpkin everything.

In October I feel nostalgic. Everything takes on the sepia toned fuzzy edges of memory. I think of little me and what I would normally be doing this time of year. I think back to Octobers past.

I believe in possibilities. When I open a wardrobe I fully expect to find Narnia. When I walk under a full moon and hear a howl I know there is a werewolf nearby. I wouldn't be surprised if one day I came upon a fairy in the woods or a monsters tea party. I also wouldn't be surprised if a corn maze took me to an alternate reality. I like to live in my imagination and October is the perfect vehicle for that. In October anything is possible. There are grand adventures to be had if only we know where to look or are open to them. October allows my inner child to pop out and explore. If Peter Pan could be a girl, then that girl is me. I never did grow up, I just wear an adult costume the other 11 months of the year.

I am actually happier in October than any other month. I always have been. Maybe it is because I can sense the wonder and possibility in the air that October brings. The world is dying in a riot of color and begging for us to notice and join in the grand celebration. It is asking that we step out of ourselves and our routines and grasp the splendor. My imagination comes alive in October.

This year bits of October leaked out into other months even without my prompting. I felt a chill in the summer air that whispered to me. It spoke of campfires under velvety black skies and toasted marshmallows. I saw fog escaping riverbanks and creeping toward country roads trying to hitch a ride. I felt the eyes of generations on me as I sat and ate my lunch overlooking the gorge high up on a deserted plateau. October is coming the voices whispered, October is here, I say now.

Someone decorated their house early for Halloween and I actually had to pull over to the side of the road because I was getting a bit teary eyed. In the last few years, October décor has really dwindled around here, and no it isn't because I am buying it all up. Maybe kids are getting older and the parents don't' care to celebrate. Maybe the people who did decorate moved. Who knows why, but it made me sad. It was good to see October come back again even in such a small way.

October is the embodiment of me. To me October is comfort. It is beauty and magic. It is possibility, joy, sadness, fright, fun and Technicolor. October is schizophrenic in the best way possible. On one hand you have soft blanket, firesides and leaves. On the other you have fangs, dark corners and screams in the night. The silly and the scary create a perfect blend.

October is the song in my soul, the cool breeze against my cheek. It is the enveloping smell of cinnamon and spice, the crackle of a fire, the hoot of an owl. It is the dark velvety corners and the things that live in them. I look forward to seeing what the adventure of this October turns out to be. Thank you for journeying with me.

Day 1: Hello October

I can't believe it is finally here. It doesn't quite seem real. Today, is the first day of October, and I am a bit apprehensive that my alarm is going to go off and it will all turn out to have been just a dream. I will wake up and it will really be November 1st and I will have another whole year to wait.
Happily, that is not the case. I am wide awake, and there is a feeling of October swirling in the night sky. Already the log jam of wonderful begins to queue up in my mind. There are so many things to say, so many new ideas to share. There are old traditions to observe and new ones to implement. I'm so giddy that I haven't even picked out which October movie to watch first.
It has been a wild ride since the last time this month came around, but that isn't the point. The point is, that for thirty-one-derful days there is a special kind of magic in the air. A different way of being. The days have an unusual feel to them in October. I really can't say why. Maybe I am seeing things through orange colored glasses, but October really is a month set apart. It has personality, vigor and more than a little mischief. I have felt it creep into the other months and slip in pieces of itself. A dash of mystery here, a pinch of whimsy there. I have caught fleeting tastes and smells of October in the strangest places, and felt its pull on hot summer days. Ah October, I have missed you.
For those new to the October Thoughts (OT), welcome. For those who are old hands, welcome back. I am so happy that I get to share my love of this wonderful month with all of you. It makes the journey sweeter traveling with friends old and new. Who knows what exciting discoveries we will make and grand adventures we will have this time around. .

For traditions sake, I will now present the reading of the history and for lack of a better word, guidelines. I have always had a love affair with October. Everything about it is heightened (lots more on that later). Then in the early 2000's, I found someone else who shared my love of the orange month. She wrote her own October Thoughts (still does) and graciously allowed me to piggyback off of her idea. You see, October has more than enough wonderful for us to share. Ever since, in one form or another, I have bent the ear of any who would listen, why I think October is the best month of them all.
Being a girl who likes variety, I have much to love in this month. I love the cozy and the scary, the cute and the gory. I like paper Mache bats as much as ridiculously expensive couture costumes. I like the candy and the weather, the scares, the tastes, the magic, the colors and so much more. Not everyone will share in all my delights and that is ok. As far as I know, October doesn't hold any grudges.
For 31 days, I will write about some aspect of October that catches my fancy. Some thoughts will be old, some new. Most will be long, there will be more than a little nostalgia and unless otherwise stated, it will be all my rambling thoughts (you have been warned). For the most part, I write at night. This means that when you awake in the glorious October morning there will be a Thought ready and waiting for you. BUT, life does happen and sometimes the thoughts will be delayed. That just means that you can fill in your own. I am more than happy to take requests or play with comments. You the reader, help me make the magic and what we come up with together, can sometimes be the best part. I look forward to our interaction.
But for now, you get my manifesto on why I think October is so great in the first place. Each year I try to put into words a summation of my October love affair. And each year, I come up with something slightly different. This year my overarching theme is the word cozy. I get a great feeling of inner warmth and joy when I think about October. The nights turn crisp and hold the promise of snuggling under blankets and eating comfort food whilst drinking hot beverages. There are golden glows from the suns rays, and warm, comforting colors in the fall palate. There is a sense of ease in the traditions of the month. By now, life has fallen back into its rhythms and routines from the chaos that is summer. There are things to look forward to and life seems to turn inward. The frenetic pace of the holiday season has not yet hit and there is still a sense of enjoyment in the coming days. For all its mystery and magic, there is something reassuring and dependable about October. I can always count on something wonderful to happen.
In my minds eye, I see October as a sepia photograph or multifaceted jewel. It is nostalgia and friendship. Promise of better days and new insights. And it is never the same upon repeat viewing. October is the best kind of mystery and I look forward to unlocking it with you. So grab a pumpkin spice latte and your coziest blanket and come along with me on the grand adventure that is October!

October = Adventure: OT Day 4

Yesterday was not a banner day. In fact, it was kind of the poster child for miserableness. Since I pretty much felt like a piece of mangled gum that one scrapes off the bottom of a shoe, I declared the day an official sick day and spent it daydreaming whilst snuggled deeply in blankets. I loaded up my bed fort with the necessities; a pile of October reading, fuzzy bat socks, a stuffed ghost, October oriented DVD’s, spooky music, and a pumpkin cupcake scented candle. (The candle was on the dresser across the room. I may be sick, but I’m not crazy. Candles in bed + me = disaster).

While I was holed up in my makeshift October fort, I had plenty of time to think about what I would rather be doing. All the best stories in October have to do with adventure. There is no scary movie where the main character sits sedately by and chats about income tax. If they did, they would promptly get eaten. It’s only fair. October is about taking chances and doing something out of the ordinary. October is the time to take the road less traveled and see where it leads, to wander off into the fog for the fun of it. In October my sense of wanderlust reaches almost unbearable heights. I want to roam through the dark forest. I want to drive on the back roads of New England and see the changing leaves. I want to dig for buried treasure or at least find a mummified pirate. I want to get a package in the mail that only has a key in it with a note attached that says, find the door/box/lock that this key opens. I want to visit ghost towns and cemeteries. I want to walk through a corn field at midnight. I want twelve dwarves to show up at my door begging me to go on a quest to steal gold from a dragon. October kinda makes me a bit crazy, but in the best possible way.

While I was reading about adventures in my sickened state, I came across this passage; "No victory is ever achieved without first making the decision to leave home. Each step that you’ve taken, each foe that you’ve overcome, each hardship that you’ve endured, has led you here, now, to this moment." That is so true. You can’t have an adventure without first stepping foot outside your own door, or your comfort zone. You have to actively decide to go. I think that is why I fell in love with Lord of the Rings. When Bilbo leaves the Shire after his milestone birthday party, he sings this song. "The Road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, and I must follow, if I can, pursuing it with eager feet, until it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say." I love the idea of just setting off one day and following the road. There are so many choices to make. Left or right. Up or down. North, South, East or West. Paved roads or little used ones. Not only does Bilbo go, but he goes eagerly. He has already lived a good long life, but he is not done with adventure quite yet.

When I was in Jr. High, we read a book called Cry the Beloved Country. It has the best opening of any book I have ever read and that counts the ones that start by saying, "It was a dark and stormy night." The book begins, "There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it." It still gives me chills all these years later and pulls me right into the story. There are so many questions to be asked in those first two sentences. What exactly does a lovely road look like? In October context, is it lined with trees whose leaves are all shades of fall colors? Is there a babbling brook nearby or a quaint stone bridge. Does lovely mean that the road winds or is free of rocks and smooth? And how lovely must those hills be if their beauty cannot even be captured in song. I want to see those hills. I want to try and describe their loveliness. What a grand adventure that would be.

So this is my challenge to you this October. Find your road. Go in search of an adventure. Maybe it is something simple like turning off the GPS when you leave home and flipping a coin each time you come to an intersection. Perhaps you order a new food, go to a different part of town, or finally talk to that mysterious stranger. Whatever adventure looks like to you, DO IT! Then be sure to tell me all about it.