It’s the most wonderful time of the year…..because fall is in the air.  Frankly, it can’t get here soon enough.  I hate summer and I especially hated this summer.  The weather has just sucked.

This open thread is dedicated to North of Nokesville and also to all summer haters.  Thanks for the nudge, North!

27 Thoughts to “Open Thread……………………September 2017”

  1. I’ll always be a Spring guy, but Fall is a close second.

    1. Joe George,

      Fall, spring, winter and finally summer for me.

      This summer had the worst weather!!!

  2. Confused

    So ….. are you going to write about Wednesday’s school board fiasco?

    1. Not today. I need to digest it. Still getting information. It does seem that we have a dictator in the house.\Meanwhile, check out the Derecho. He handles it swiftly and surgically.

      http://thederecho.blogspot.com/2017/09/school-board-2017-horror-show-continues.html

    2. I left off the Sheriff of Nottingham’s blog. I haven’t read it yet but he opines also.

      https://sheriffofnottinghampwc.blogspot.com/2017/09/ryan-sawyers-narcissist-in-chief-of.html

      I don’t expect I will disagree with either of them much. Ryan is sort of running out of allies.

      1. NorthofNokesville

        MoonHowler,

        He’s like a star collapsing in on itself, inevitably destroying a lot around it with no hope of recovery. Seems like time for an intervention by the grown-ups. Alas, not sure that’s how PWC party politics work. I fear this well continue to degenerate as he’s toxic when it comes to higher office. But that’s time for another thread.

      2. I just got one of those robe call surveys. I was enjoying it until I forgot which response to give. Note to surveys–always repeat the response with each question.

        I got off base with whether 1 or 2 was to keep confederate statues. By the time it got to the congressional candidate question for 2018, I got so mired down in my disgust I just stopped thinking about it. The robe hung up on me. I absolutely will vote for Rob Wittman if the opponent is Sawyers. I agree with Wittman on very little. However, I would vote for him if Sawyers gets the party nomination.

        That should draw my line in the sand. I wonder how many other democrat leaning voters feel as I do?

      3. MoonHowler,

        From what I understand, many Dems will NOT be voting for him.

      4. The ones I know sure won’t be. I am glad to know that I am not the lone ranger on this one. Because I operate outside the party, I wasn’t sure.

        I sure make myself sound like a maverick, don’t I? I actually sat on committee about 25 years ago. It didn’t take long for that encounter to offend my independent spirit….and I just removed myself.

  3. mom

    Douche canoe
    An annoying person, usually male, characterized by one or more of a variety of obnoxious traits. These may include but are not limited to arrogance, incompetence, stupidity, an unfounded sense of self-importance, and general disagreeableness.

  4. NorthofNokesville

    Hey, Moon, thanks for the shout-out and thread. Autumn is my favorite season, not even close. Crisp days and cool nights, and eventually the soft comfort of sweater weather. College football resumes. Leaves turn (and are already in some little nooks and crannies on the mountain). The pumpkin patches and cider stands popup every few miles, and the smell of smoke on the wind gets more common. I love the subtle shifts in food and drink. Beers get stouter and darker, food gets heartier. Spending a day baking and heating up the kitchen isn’t as punitive, and stews, soups, roasts, and pies come back into circulation.

    Plus, Keats….

    https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44484/to-autumn

    “While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
    And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue…”

    It’s not even his best, but it’s the best seasonal verse.

    Enjoy!

    1. Oh thank you. As a topic, fall is often overlooked in poetry…at least to my knowledge.

      I have started my own tradition. I urge family members to join me at Asian Garden near the Safeway in Bristow for “Harvest Moon” dinner. Now, the restaurant doesn’t do anything special, mind you. Its just my tradition I started. The food is decent, service is good, and its about 7 or 6 miles from home. Here’s the good part–you get to see the harvest moon all the way home as you drive east. I had to do it a day or two later this year, waiting for the cloud cover to lift. Part of the neatness of Harvest Moon dinner is seeing the moon on the way home. Otherwise, we could have gotten carry out.

      Oh fall wins by far with me. I drink Raven and Annabel Lee White brewskis and occasionally a Guiness regardless of season. My margaritas will soon turn to scotch however. You actually should turn what you wrote here into poetry. Its better than most of what’s out there.

      Thanks for such great autumnal thoughts!

      We could stretch this out all fall. How many people prefer college football to pro football? No contest for me. I hate pro football. I can still remember having a crush on the Duke Blue Devil as a 3 year old. He winked at me. (so did Mickey Mantle but not that day!)

      1. NorthofNokesville

        MoonHowler,

        Lovely tradition, and nice celestial / lunar tie-in. Some places actually do proper Harvest Moon festivals but I’ve not seen anything like that in PWC or nearby. The bevy of Fall Festivals aren’t a great replacement.

        I can’t endorse a Duke crush. I respect them as a ecumenical matter, but beyond that, I keep my distance 🙂

        Another thing I love: the way low-lying areas get cold as the sun sets. You can be in the sun or on a ridge line at 5PM, and it’s comfortable, then duck behind a hill or into a hollow and the temperature drops 10-15 degrees. Or in late autumn, when sitting around fire leaves your front half toasty and your back half freezing. Contrast and transition do it for me.

      2. I wonder why the ones around here do not do Harvest Moon meal? Maybe the lack of a substantial Asian poulation?

        Well, I will do my own, Damn it! And if the moon is covered, I have the flexibility to wait it out, as I did this year. If I can’t see the harvest moon then it doesn’t exist.

        Duke crush–my parents, both UVA grads, didn’t think a lot of my crush either. That is where the first encounter was…Scott Stadium. I had other crushes they didn’t approve of, I am sure. I think it went beyond being opposed to blue devil worship.

        Oh yes, temperature contrasts are great. I am such a sissy I always bring a blanket for by back half when a fire pit is involved.

        I also love the cold mornings that warm up as the day goes on. I check each day to see what the evening temp will be. Then I whine for a camp fire or …when that fails which it often does, I think about dragging the fire column out. Its a big pain so I haven’t. Perhaps tonight ….I just have to walk it out from its place on the deck behind the chimney.

        Keep more fall coming, please! You say it so much better than I do. You capture sensory images.

      3. NorthofNokesville

        MoonHowler,

        Moon,

        I’m not sure why PWC doesn’t have more of that. With some of the aspiring agri-business you’d think it would be a natural. “Harvest Moon at the brewery” would sell like hotcakes. I’m also not sure if the Harvest Moon / fall festival vibe is Asian or northern European. Halloween is clearly European (it’s a Roman Catholic holiday, and in Gaelic countries supplanted pagan observances like Samhain).

        The variability of the holiday might be an issue. September 6 this year was right in the middle of back to school, no one was paying attention to much of anything other than a short week and getting kids to practice, etc. Or maybe folks are waiting until after the equinox?

        And certainly, when I think Harvest Moon, my initial thought is Neil Young. I hate that his song was used to back a frankly weird scene in Eat, Pray, Love.

        This morning was another spectacular one. Slept with windows open, kids let me wake up naturally. The angle of the light coming from the east and hitting the mountains is perfect, drenching the trees. The trees are still mostly green, but the light exposes pockets of brown, yellow, even just variations in the green. Best time of year.

        Blankets are just preparedness. Layering is the secret. Also a firepit pro-tip… put on a fresh shirt, sweater, or whatever. By evening, even if you feel dry, your clothes are full of moisture, which makes them less comfortable and heat inefficient. It’s worth the extra laundry!

        My words are poor though compared to Keats, and his are available for free. Can’t compete.

      4. I never saw Eat, Pray Love. I think I am glad. I also think of Neil Young.
        I can’t see the mountains from my house. I am sort of part of the low lands of Sudley. I also have lots of trees around, although not all of them are mine.

        Thanks for the fire pit tip. I don’t use mine often but I will remember that when I do. I really need my trip to the mountains. I am going for a few days in late October but I need to go long before that, probably this week.

        Maybe your words are preferred by some, compared to Keats. He’s a little ….flowery and dated by modern standards.

  5. Confused

    The clown show just keeps getting worse. Anyone else catch the school board meeting last night?

    1. I read about it. Is it worthy of watching?

      1. Confused

        MoonHowler,

        The first 30 minutes is about all I could take. I’ve never seen such petulant behavior from an elected official.

      2. Now I will have to watch. Thats really too bad. I thought maybe he would grow up.

      3. NorthofNokesville

        MoonHowler,

        He’s gotten worse, if anything. It’s well beyond “doing the right thing the wrong way…” he’s simply unhinged. He may have read too much about Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field and legendary temper. Of course, Jobs actually achieved things, but absent accomplishment, mimicking the bad bits just makes him a buffoon.

        At this point, I’d take a random patron at Carini’s or Hidden Jules (probably closer to even money D/R bet) over Sawyers. Or a Magic 8 Ball.

        By next weekend, autumn should be here. Dignity on the school board won’t.

      4. NorthofNokesville

        NorthofNokesville,

        Wow… go cross-country for a few days and check a blog.

        Sawyers has lost it. He’s unhinged.

      5. Holy cow. If SoN is serious then our fine feathered chairman has really slipped off the deep end.

        I sort of guessed Jaimie was his wife. Who talks about themselves or their wife like that?

      6. NorthofNokesville

        MoonHowler,

        LOL …. gave me a chuckle at “fine feathered chairman.” I’m not letting our county’s over-investment in idiocy get me down. Fall has made an appearance, and that alone is reason to set aside the foibles of (self-)important men and reach for the fruit of the vine and bounty of the barrel, coaxed from Nature by man and women of craft. It’s finally OK to taste Bell’s “Hell Hath no Fury” which is a Belgian Dubbel with a bourbon-aged kick. I will report back …. it’s not my usual thing.

      7. Does Total Wine have Bell’s Hell hath no Fury? That sounds like a beer I would like.

        There is always next week. I am sure there is more idiocy. If we can’t get it locally we can always count on Trump to say something cruel or inane. I still am clutching my throat over the insults and attacks on the mayor of San Juan.

      8. NorthofNokesville

        MoonHowler,

        Trump will botch something. He’s completely messed up Puerto Rico, and he’s pushing a tax plan that will cost folks like Comstock their jobs.

        Total Beverage has HHNF from Bell’s, but they want an arm and a leg for it. I’d be looking at the individual bottles / build your own six pack to make sure 🙂

      9. Ahhh…the build your own six pack thing. Yup yup yup!

        He also just messed up the Las Vegas mass murders also. Sending “warm Condolences?” What the hell is that.

        He has insulted Rex, botched PR, and overlooked the main issue at the mass murder.

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