Weather.com never lies. And this week, it looks like fall is here to stay at last. With the end of midterms, the return of cold nights and the mischief of Halloween just a few days away, October is a time of renewal, rebirth and revitalization.
Forget that loss to UNC!
Go pumpkin picking with your hip, alternative college friends. But don't miss the hay ride and adorable toddlers out with their young professional parents. And don't get scared that they're probably only five years older than you and are already bored with their lives and in a rut.
Maybe apple picking is safer, although perhaps just as wholesome.
Maybe the best option for avoiding a glimpse into your probable future is to go to Harris Teeter and buy pumpkins and apples.
I think they have a special if you have a VIC card!
Use words like crisp, fresh and chilly.
Defend fall or autumn vehemently. Object whenever someone uses them interchangeably.
(Except in this column).
Shiver unnecessarily on the way to class. Blow warm air into your fists.
Drink hot apple cider with a dash of rum. If you have friends with a fireplace, go to their place with Boston Market in hand. Play spin the bottle.
Or, put more than a dash of rum in that cider and get down and dirty with a flashback night of "Seven Minutes in Heaven."
Relive middle school as you stand in the dark and do, well, nothing.
Pore over the brand-new Course Offering Directory.
Think of all those wonderful, stimulating classes you'll take next semester. For example, GREE 513: Pindar! Or SWAG 498: Independent Reading, where you'll finally be on your own!
I, personally, am looking forward to PSYC: 403, Pleasure, though I think I might prefer to pursue it as an independent study.
"Did you run today?"
The sign hangs on the corkboard above my computer.
Why?
Because not only is autumn the time for fresh-baked apple pies and jumping in leaves.
It's also time for: "Mid-Semester Resolutions!"
So make a new running CD and hit the streets to the beats of Jamiroquai! Be sure to gape at the glorious trees as they explode in violent, passionate oranges and reds!
Ignore the equally violent pains in your chest. It's just the feeling of every cigarette you've smoked in the past six months trying to climb out your trachea.
Take down that passive-aggressive away message aimed at your ex! Replace it with, "Autumn!" or "Fall!" or "Having way more fun than you!"
Maybe not that last one.
Spend less time on the facebook and more time reading in the gardens.
Floss occasionally.
And use cinnamon toothpaste to get that extra-autumn flavor when you brush.
Wear sweatshirts straight out of the dryer.
Call home and tell your family that you love them. That you miss them. Ask them to send you your favorite sweater. The one you forgot when you were packing.
Go to parties and introduce yourself to someone new.
Say something like, "It's really hot in here. Do you want to go outside for a bit? It's really fresh out there."
Discuss your planned independent study of Pleasure.
Facebook him or her as soon as you get home.
Write a terrifically terrible poem that no one will ever read if you happen to sit up late at night and hear the wind blowing.
Make outrageous plans for the future.
Think really hard about everything that you regret most. All the missed opportunities, the blown chances, the things you should have done, the hours you should have been studying when you were playing Seven Minutes in Heaven.
And let them go.
Autumn can be really hard at first. A lot of memories come pouring into the present, as if spurred along by cold fronts. They sprint ahead of the jagged blue lines on weather.com surface maps.
Let them wash around you and soak them in. The first cold snap always takes everyone by surprise. At first, the chill brings back failures, regrets, losses.
Hamsters lost to overfeeding.
A lost relationship with Alex Dunning in fifth grade.
A really good pen lost in Cabell after your Monday discussion class. God I liked that pen.
But by the end, the good memories come back too. Faces glow with nostalgia, with introspection, with at-peaceness.
Young professional families still terrify me, but that has less to do with autumn and more to do with the fact that I have no direction in my life.
A topic for another day, possibly another season.
For now, I think the wisest thing to do is to go eat some apple pie and check the 10-day forecast for any signs of snow.
A-J's column is published bi-weekly on Tuesdays. He can be reached at aronstein@cavalierdaily.com.
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