It's winter in the middle of a falling spring

Tomorrow is April 1st.

We've had 60 degree weather lately....followed by snow.

Today it was cold and rainy and it felt like a somber fall day.

What is going on these days and who do I need to talk to about it?

Music Of The Season

Since Fall is here I was thinking the other day about the music that I like most to listen to this time of year. Here is a list of CDs that I keep on hand for such occasions-

Madeski, Martin & Wood- Notes From the Underground
I bought this album in the fall one year of college but it is good year round

Pearl Jam- No Code
I bought this album the fall of my senior year of high school. There was just something beautifully eerie about the mood of the songs set to the backdrop of my misty wet and gray drives home after school.

Nickel Creek- Nickel Creek
Bluegrass is good for any occasion

Counting Crows- August And Everything After and Recovering The Satellites
August was an album that captured my imagination during my sophomore year of high school. There was a special comfort that I found in it when I didn't know how to spend the rest of my time. The same feelings come from Satellites, but I bought it with a friend in the fall of my senior year of high school. I remember initially not liking the album but slowly I grew to love it as I began to feel it being a telling of my life at the time.

Coldplay- Parachutes
If you can get past the self service of the lead singer the album is just great.

Crash Test Dummies- The Ghosts That Haunt Me
I first listened to this album in the fall of 1999. It captivated me in only a way that a singer who sounds like he has three nads can.

Edwin McCain- Honour Among Thieves
A friend of mine introduced me to this album right after it came out in the summer of 1995. My friend wasn't near to me that following fall but this album felt like it was my closest link to her.

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds- Live at Luther College
I bought this in the spring of 1999 but it is still a great album.

Led Zeppelin- III
"Leaves are falling all around; time I was on my way...." From the song Ramble On

Crank it up and enjoy the ride.

I'm falling from the ceiling...falling from the sky....

"Leaves are falling all around, time I was on my way..." Ramble On by Led Zeppelin

Today is September 24th already. Where does all of the time go? What happened this month? My dad turned 52, I turned 29, my mom turned 51...I started working on my home office again since I started working on it last October and still had not yet finished it. By Joe, it will be done in the next 2 weeks or so because I've been working my rear off to get it finished. I am tired of being tired of complaining about it...so there.

Yesterday marked the first day of Autumn. Welcome fall! The Fall is my favourite time of the year. The temperatures drop, the air gets crisp, and it is the perfect time to get a lot of outdoors projects done. I like some things about winter but here in Iowa it is just too cold and snowy. I like some things about spring but it just seems too rainy. I like the long days that summer brings...but an Iowa summer is like living in a sauna and that is no fun.

Fall is my time of the year- College football [no favourite teams...I just like watching], breaking out my sweaters, chicken noodle soup, smoked meats, crisp air, sitting on my porch smoking my pipe, raking leaf piles for the kids to jump into, watching the leaves change colours, driving on country roads watching the combines in the fields as the farmers collect their harvest. Halloween and Thanksgiving.

One year I had this job guarding an outdoor art exhibit and my favourite time of the day was about 4PM when the sun had sunk enough to be perfectly positioned to hit the trees on the east side of the lot in such a way that it created such a spectacular display of colour. Looking out my window right now at my office it appears as though most of the trees here are still pretty green, but it is only a matter of a couple weeks before they change.

I love fall and Harvest parties. My musical interests also seem to shift during this time as well; more bluegrass and country than rock or blues. Fall is just overall such a great time of year.