Autumn and Much Before (Well, Actually, Mostly During)

Pumpkinfest! It's here again, Faithful Reader(s). This Saturday, the Monk and I headed down to the quiet hamlet of Hartsburg to attend the 15th Annual Hartsburg Pumpkin Festival, a veritable rite of Autumn here in central MO. And, as usual, it did not disappoint. We had a beautiful day to leisurely and dustily drive a back route into H-burg on River Road, a dirt and gravel swath that made it's way past corn and soybean fields, hay and tractor sheds, and, for a quarter mile, the sleepy banks of the MO. While there, we enjoyed some homegrown ribeye and a tasty funnel cake, and we ran into a couple of my students working the traffic for the sheriff's dept. A wonderful day, to say the least. We also picked up some take-home delicacies: apple butter, horseradish, and jalapeno jelly!

Friday night was the usual happy hour, followed by dinner with Osculator and Ms. T. Happy hour conversations ranged from baseball to self-gratification, so, as stated before, the usual. Dinner was fun, and has left me scrambling to find an "I (HEART) Fran Tarkenton" T-shirt. You know, just because.

This past week, back home, most of my family had birthdays. My mom, my uncle, my grandfather, and my oldest nephew. My brother's comes in eleven days, so October is a busy birthday month in the author's clan. I also found out, from one of my students, that October 5 is the most common birthday in the US. It's nine months, roughly, from New Year's Eve/Day. You do the figuring as to why that might be a popular dios de concepcion.

Also, as mentioned before, the Gold Team romped to a clear victory, 28-6, over the Purple squad during this past Homecoming Week. It's good to go out a winner. The post-game, adults-only celebration wended its way through Columbia, visiting bars and homes alike, and led to the author's carrying himself home on foot from Lou's Palace.

Finally, moving forward in time, Sunday found Monkey and I in St. Louis, where we visited the Botanical Gardens and treated ourselves to the Chihuilly (I don't know if I spelled that right) installation of giant colored glass. It was quite a sight, all that pretty glass incorporated into all that flora. Quite a weekend, I must say!