Blog Post No. 532
In an attempt to avoid editing, I was cleaning up my desk the other day and came across an old cassette tape. It was marked “three” in my teenage chicken scratch and had no other information on it. I popped it into my player (which needs to have its belts changed since the speed consistency was all over the place) and on the tape were snippets recorded off the radio from the summer of 1997. I had to deduce the date based on the songs that were in the top charts for the day and the advertisement for the station’s summer music festival that was supposed to be happening in a matter of weeks.
It’s not officially winter, but it sure feels like it in my area. I know some places have already had some pretty heavy snowfall, but we just got our first light dusting last week. I was in the kitchen making something to eat and listening to music before heading off to the day job, occasionally looking out the window to watch the falling flurries and I had a strong sense of déjà vu. I thought back on a fond memory about the snow which led to others. Sometimes the snow and cold are a nuisance, but they don’t always have to be.
The brief but glorious season of Autumn is upon us and unlike the last few years, it arrived on time and has held on with cool, crisp air, a flourish of colour, and inevitable darkness. (It’s not all good, but two out of three ain’t bad). I’m determined to enjoy it for as long as it holds out, even though I’m not actually spending much time out in the cloudy skies and refreshing weather. I’m still a homebody at heart and, like a skittish forest creature, I’m wary of others. I’ve waxed about my love of the season 
I have a terrible memory. Which is funny since a lot of my posts over the last few years have been about me looking back on my past. But really, outside of a general vague sense of my childhood, I have a handful of vivid memories that stand out. For some reason (or several reasons more likely) a number of those memories are about Halloween. Sure, Halloween is over, but I’m on a roll with these posts about my personal past and I hate how the minute November starts it’s somehow Christmas season already. So I’m dragging my feet and trying to keep October alive for one more week. The biggest reason is likely that I love the holiday. I’ve loved it ever since I was a child. It was like Christmas but without the obligations. Halloween is a real holiday for kids (and drunken adults, I suppose). 
For some reason, the nostalgia that overwhelms me in Autumn seemed to hit later this year. Sure, the post about 
I’ve always felt like there was something special about Saturdays. I mean, Sundays have their place and a weekday when everyone else is at work has its own kind of magic, but Saturdays hold extra promise. It may have something to do with the hold over from Friday nights (when a person can feel most free depending on their work situation) or it could be tied in with my childhood era of Saturday mornings with cartoons, cereal, and cold hockey arenas. Even though every day job I’ve ever had includes some or most Saturday shifts, when I have a Saturday free, there is little like it.
I have a familiar feeling that lives somewhere in my bones (or in quiet places of my brain) that hits me every once in a while. The feeling comes whenever something triggers it, but it represents the time of day between about 3 and 6 pm. It’s a time that doesn’t mean much to me now, but back when I was in school, it was the time between being let out of school and before evening (usually around dinner time). Sometimes the setting sun triggers it, sometimes it’s the smell of a wood fire on the crisp evening air. Sometimes it’s as silly as having Poptarts for the first time in a number of years. 
It’s odd to think that in the future, today may be part of the good old days. While I was working on last week’s blog post, I started to think about when I first started this blog, some eight years ago. I had tried and failed to start several blogs and I had some friends in similar boats. Eventually something clicked and this took hold. I had hoped it would be part of a little network of blogs with my friends with guest posts and posts linking across multiple sites, like webrings of the early internet, but it didn’t happen. Even though some of my friends have websites and blogs, I’m the only one who does regular posts. 
*Break/Interrupt has been officially released and I’ve started local distribution. If you want a copy, please leave a comment or send me a message. Thanks.*
I’ve been spending the majority of my out-of-work time hiding in the basement. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a really nice place to be, but I’ve come to realize that all the plans I had to get out and ride my bike or take walks are not going to happen before the winter strikes. I did go for some rides down the many awesome paths near the parkway and in the LaSalle area. The problem was that everyone else had the same idea and it was impossible to keep a safe distance from them (since no one else seemed to be concerned). 
Ben Van Dongen 