I love October.

Halloween candy and scary movies are a part of it, of course, but that's not all.

This week, the weather started its yearly turn from "late summer" to full-fledged fall. Went to bed Wednesday night overheated (11 pm - I am a wild child) and woke up Thursday morning at 7 something (8 am class, ech), turned on the weather channel (the window tells me if the sun is up), and while waiting for my local on the 8s, saw the temperature by the time. 52 degrees.

In the fifties!

Scrap those plans for shorts, eh?

Thursday and Friday, I wore pants and flip-flops (I swear I have tan lines from my school pair) and sweated a bit in the 70s afternoons.

Today? Shorts all the way for walking. I wasn't overheated, but I wasn't shivering.

Memphis loves summer, whether the people like it or not, and fall/winter do not come easily. They have to fight. There will be some nights over the next few weeks when no one gets sleep because of tornado watches which may go to warnings at any moment.

That sounds melodramatic, but it's a fact of life.

So the weather will bounce around - sometimes on a daily basis - pants and a coat for the 8 am class, shorts and a tank top for the 11:20.

Thursday night, I was outside, and the cool/cold air and the dark just brought back so many memories. Not of Halloween, surprisingly enough. Halloween's always been a tossup, it's never been consistent - some years you're in heavy winter coats, other times you're barefoot. No clear memory.

But the later holidays... ah... Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's in Tipton County with fireworks.

I love cold weather, and we're fixing to get nice and cold... after Halloween.

St. Patrick's Day will probably be the end of it, sadly.

The other part of October?

The World Series!

The Evil Empire's been defeated, we've gone to extra innings, the Sox have scored in the double digits, and on and on.

Thursday night I also remembered the last fall games of the season - the bright neighborhood, lit up oddly by the stadium lights, and that tink! of bat and ball.

That is baseball to me - that one noise.

I love me some World Series, don't get me wrong, but I remember these gut busting hilarious games this summer in Florida between the Marlins and the Cards.

The stands were pretty empty, and you could hear this little group of hecklers, it was awesome.

And of course, that tink!

During the World Series and the Division Series and the Championship Series the stadiums are packed and the announcers love to talk.

I love baseball.



Also - on my October walk today I got my Memphis library card! The library is awesomely close to the dorm, and well, Jasper Fforde has a new book! (2 actually, I missed the sequel to the first Nursery Crimes)

And I own Stephen Colbert's book! It was only $18.99 because of an automatic 30% discount. Go figure. He made me break my hardback rule - I generally wait for new books to come out in paperback (I try) before buying (library reading is fine), but hey, the glory that is Colbert deserves hardback.

But not at $26.99.

Bottom of the 9th, Game 2 of the ALCS, tied 6-6 - the Sox will win.