On Fall and Turkey Time

[elSicomoro]

Well, here we are in the thick of November, just a few weeks from Thanksgiving. The NFL playoff race is starting to take shape...strange as it is at this time. And the Blues and Flyers are doing well in the NHL...now if they could just convert all their regular season success into getting Lord Stanley's cup. (You Minnesota fans better not get too comfy with the Wild's surprising start...they'll be in the basement before long. )

I like Thanksgiving...and I don't know why. I guess because it is a celebration of ridiculous excess...eat and drink 'til you puke, watch football, go shopping, and get a 4-day weekend. We're not doing anything major, as it's just Rho and I. We have now spent enough money at the grocery store to get a free 4-7 lb. turkey breast. We'll probably make some homemade stuffing, mac and cheese, and sweet potato pie to go along with the turkey. What the hell...maybe I will make the sweet potato pie...I can cook.

I feel like I got robbed on foliage this fall. Until a month ago, the maple out by my balcony was green as could be. Then, it started turning yellow. With the wind and rain we got this weekend, it is now naked. It got cold rather early this year too...it started getting chilly in early October in these parts...no real Indian Summer this year. This whole year has been wack, weather-wise. We got almost no snow, temps were mild, and the summer was incredibly hot, with little rain. The dogwood tree out front bloomed in mid-March, as opposed to late April...the flowers were gone by then.

Nevertheless, I saw some great foliage during my trip up to New England, especially in the Boston area. And I like that it got cold earlier this year. The weather does my allergies good...and it allows me to wear my pimpin coat more.

You might never suspect it, but Philadelphia is incredibly windy...it very much reminds me of Chicago. I'm no expert, but I suspect it's because we're in a valley, and close to both mountains and the ocean (about 60 miles from each). And it's windy all over this city. You don't really feel the wind in Chicago too too much unless you're near the lake...once you get further into the city, it's not as prominent. Maybe I'm just more perceptive now than I used to be.

I want to go camping...that just sounds like a great thing to do right now. It'd just be me though...Rho's not a fan of the outdoors, and it's almost impossible for her to do something like that right now anyway. I did a ton of camping as a Scout, and used to love it...I'm a big nature fan. I'd go hiking all over Beaumont Reservation and S-F Scout Ranch in Missouri as a young-in...I could easily walk 10-20 miles or more in a day.

I'd just like to do something like that now. Go pitch a tent up in the Poconos, go hiking for a day, make a campfire, cook over it, and just be one with nature. And it wouldn't even require much money...good stuff. You know what? Fuck the tent...I can create my own shelter. I still have my wilderness skills about me.

I hope we get a good solid snowstorm this season...and I hope it comes early. One of those 3-footers that keeps you snowed in for a few days. We have some good hills here in the neighborhood that I would like to take on as a sled rider. And if we need supplies, I can always hike up to the grocery store.

I might even try ice skating this year. The Flyers opened up a Skate Zone near my apartment last winter...and I haven't laced up skates in over a decade. I would imagine that it's not too expensive, and it could be a lot of fun. Of course, I'll fall on my ass 50 times and look like a crackwhore, but it's all about fun, right? The city should be opening their outdoor rink near Penn's Landing shortly, so that might be worthwhile too.

I just want to get out there and enjoy what nature offers. I really haven't done so in some time, and it's about time I got off my duff and did something productive.