Autumnal splendor, cats and porcupines.

I love this time of year. It's like the heat of the summer finally climbed out of the tub and jumped into a nearby icy stream. As vegetation dies back and the harvests come in, I always feel invigorated and alive. Everything feels crisper, cleaner, thrown into sharp relief. The sky is that deep cobalt blue, the yellow leaves swirl around my feet. I love the way that autumn smells. People are starting up their fireplaces, mowing their lawns one last time. When I had my convertible, this is the time of year when the top was rarely up - I just wanted to drink everything in all the time.

I recently read some melancholy musings on the season; and while I agree that the acoustics of the season are well-suited to the echoes of the past.... for me, autumn is a time of coming together. This has always been the time of year when people began to need to crowd around the fire for warmth, and it is still -- a time of gathering, of storytelling, of imagining. This is the time of year when I got married.

I love this time of year.



I have no good segue from that, so I'll just plow on.

I'm going to start a new segment that I've been thinking about for a while: a "good and bad" bit. Something like TV Guide's "Cheers and Jeers", or Stephen Colbert's "Tip of the Hat/Wag of the Finger". I've been dragging my feet, though, trying to come up with a good name. At long last, though, I have:

Cat in the Lap/Porcupine in the Pants.

Because who *wouldn't* like a cat happily purring in their lap? And who would want a porcupine in the pants? Ow!!!

As in, "A cat in the lap goes to Sonya, who is feeling lousy and crappy and is dealing with a cruddy cold and mountains of work. A porcupine in the pants goes to the jerk in front of me on the highway, who tossed some trash out of his window. " Anyway, I have a bunch of CitL and PitP that I've been thinking about posting, so watch this space for more developments.

[No porcupines or cats were harmed in the making of this post]

I was thinking of going with "weasel in the pants", but "porcupine in the pants" had a better ring to it. What do you think? Tell me in the comments...