Seasonal af 🕯️🎃🍂
Fosterverse Weekly #24
It’s an exciting time of year here in the American south. After five or so months of profuse sweating (often accompanied by profuse swearing), we’re finally getting our first taste of chilly mornings and cool evenings. It will be weeks until we hit peak fall foliage, but the leaves at the tops of the trees are just warming into reds and oranges and purples, a treat to behold as the light grows (mercifully) weaker after months of blasting us at full force.
I don’t know if it’s because I was a September baby or an A student or what, but fall has always been my favorite. And as a native of the southeast, it’s a season that feels hard won. I don’t care a whit about pumpkin spice anything (I’m more of a “give me cold brew or give me death” type of gal), but I do love the various ways we as a culture begin to slow down and settle in for the cooler months. Sweatshirts and jeans come out of drawers. Spiderwebs glisten in the fading sun on walks in the woods. Skeletons haunt lawns as Halloween decorations appear. Everyone feels just a tad less ornery. It’s a vibe, as the kids say.
Also a vibe? Some of my favorite pieces of internet writing that reliably get recirculated every fall.
From McSweeney’s: It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers
Just a delightfully crass piece of writing. Always makes me smile.
From The Onion: Mr. Autumn Man Walking Down Street With Cup Of Coffee, Wearing Sweater Over Plaid Collared Shirt
“His Excellency, the Duke of Fall,” sends me every time. What a pleasure to see the return of this distinguished gentleman.
From The Guardian: Why I Adore the Night, by
And this piece of writing makes me wish I could close the laptop for the remainder of the year so I can read and snuggle and dream by the fire, and maybe, just maybe, get an idea for my next great essay.
Which leads me to some questions for you, dear readers:
What writing inspires you as the weather turns?
Are you embracing the shift to more time indoors or the arrival of shorter days?
What dreams, writing-related or otherwise, will you inhabit this fall?
I really would love to know. The comment section is open!
Sara
📅 Events
Thursday, October 17th at 2:30pm ET
Building Bridges to Better American Health Care with
Friday, October 18th at 12pm ET
Simple + Consistent with Joel Christiansen
Friday, October 18th at 5:30pm ET
(See the full calendar of upcoming Foster Writing Circles here.)
⚡️ Published
Charting a Course to Espionage and Intrigue by
Post-Vipassana reflections by
Winners and Losers in the War Economy by
How to Hitch a Ride With the Universe by
You need to Lose by
nobel prizes for noble causes by
✨ Foster Effect
Hi Sara! I'm looking forward to reading the works at these links. Thank you for providing. I love autumn too; it's my absolute favorite season, especially October. Yes, the cooler mornings, the leaves falling, the changing colors, the calmer days. And yes, the piercing sun is a little less intense. In the summer, I tend to hide, especially in recent years. It's just too hot and bright for me. My horticulture teacher Stew Winchester, in a conversation about the garden I'm creating, asked, "What's your heritage?" When I told him Irish and Norwegian, primarily, he said, "Oh, you need shade. Create a shade garden. Plant big trees." I thought that was so interesting. And I followed his dictate and planted two oaks (Garry Oak and Tomentella Oak) and a BigLeaf Maple. :)
Thanks Sara 🙏