Fall Leaves

The leaves whisper to the ground
but it's the
loud whisper
of kids up too late,
brothers and sisters
careless with time
conspiring in the deep woods
of their bedrooms
waiting for slumber
in no pursuit of sleep.

The leaves breeze into town
for the October Convention.
What will they wear?
Why, nothing
but the ghosts
of greens,
those blushing oranges
of dying,
that yellow promise
of spring.

The leaves are addressing you,
stamped by heels and toes,
posted by frolic,
delivered by
predictable mystery
to our lush
already
yesterdays.

Another Busy Day for the Cut-Out Witch*

There she is, the cut-out witch! Cute as a pun'kin! With a ragged cat named Licorice, maybe. Or Lucifer, probably. It's Halloween time! The weather autumnal, orange flotsam skittering up the streets. The breeze carries hints of cinnamon, pumpkin spice and wet leaves. Obviously, we have the windows closed in the basement where there's more than a hint of non-cinnamon scented cat breath. So we're upstairs. And Erin's making soup! (Hey, 'member the Sellwood Kitchen?)

Josh is working and Adam's out, so Erin and I are utilizing the upstairs kitchen and living room. But, no, we're not alone. Look...dogs! It's Jack, not listening, and Emma, doing her best impression of a sawmill. And there's cats here, too. Like this musical kitty, strumming Roy Clark's "Spooky Movie" (with a nod to Lucy Starcrest)...

 And this shark-eyed creeper plastered on the fridge. Yikes!

While the house isn't as enveloped in Halloween swag as it will be in Christmas props in a month, Adam nevertheless has decorated with sufficient spirit. As usual, all decorations are vintage (which around here means just slightly older than me).

I think I might go as that scarecrow for Halloween. All I'll need to do is grow out my hair. Ok, I might have to wait till next year...

Have you ever seen such a pleasant grin on a witch? She looks like she watching someone enjoy a piece of her pumpkin cheesecake, the pride of her recipe box! She's not too bad-looking of a broad. And her hair looks not so much green as streaked with copper highlights. I bet all the warlocks elbow up to the cauldron when she's mixing the brew.

 

The title of this illustration is "Witch Way to Willamette Street?" Does the owl know? Maybe, but he's too busy trying to act like a pine cone. He's high-pitch mumbling to himself, "Keep going, you creepy broad, I'm lousy with directions."

He's afraid she will put him in a pouch with a newt and a bat. That's no way to spend Halloween. No way to spend Halloween, at all.

*from one of my favorite Guided by Voices songs, "Cut Out Witch"

The Color of Autumn Will Always Be Orange

Listening to Duke Ellington perform "Jack the Bear" on Comcast's Music Choice channel (Singers & Swing, specifically). Hey, isn't "Jack the Bear" the name of that Danny DeVito movie? Remember that? I do. Didn't see it, but I remember. Also, didn't really hear the song, had it on mute while Erin was on the phone.

What I'm trying to say is it's Autumn! Not the first day of Autumn, but it's the first day of October, Autumn's favorite month. Is it always capitalized? Autumn, that is. Probably not. So, it's October and autumn. Or fall. Autumn's a touch pretentious, but so am I. It's our first autumn in the basement. And we've got the pumpkin spice oil wafting through the underground. Glorious! Jazz and pumpkins and fall. Is it Halloween yet? (No, you idiot, I just said it's the first day of October not the last.)

I've been busy slogging through Facebook, Google +, Twitter and Six Minute Story lately and have once again neglected Basementing, which was supposed to be my main focus, writing-wise, when we moved down here. Alas...

But here we are, thanks (in no small measure) to the prodding of Sherry C., the voice of our fan base (and possibly the only member of said fan base). ("Base" implies something large enough to land a helicopter on, or at least a large pigeon.)

It's Saturday night. Just Erin and me. The boys are out. The dogs are here. Say hello, Jack. No, go away, ugh, what do you want? How will licking my face help you? Get down!

8:40. Hey, Erin, let's stay up to watch SNL (this will not happen).

We're thinking of starting a vlog (how are we supposed to pronounce this?), a video blog. Might be fun. Sort of a Kardashian-like view of life here in the basement. We'll see. No, the Kardashians are stupid, but as a mocking springboard (let's say "mockingboard"), it might be fun. If you somehow don't know what a Kardashian is, I applaud you.

Next: Mike drinks a pumpkin spice latte and tell you how his tummy feels.