Guess Who's Back

Let the 2014-2015 winter season begin.  This blog has officially become a seasonal site.  Even though it's not the official start of winter or even the meteorological, I consider the season to run from November 1st thru March 31st.  Any snows before November or after March are added bonuses which have certainly occurred in the past.  With winter storm watches and warnings peppering the Appalachians in Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina, together let's enjoy the next five months.

It's brisk, damp, dreary, wet and chilly as I sit here peddling my first article of the season.  Hold on a minute.  My suspicion has been confirmed.  It's November.  Welcome to one of the crummiest months of the year.  If the cold, damp air wasn't enough of a punch in the face, tomorrow's 30 mile per hour winds will surely blow away any remaining summer tan you are desperately holding on to.  The lack of sunlight will seal the deal when the second day of November brings the new sunset time to before 5 p.m.

I've expressed my feelings on this time of year for quite some time, but it's not just me.  Our culture has embraced the month for what it is.  Now you're thinking, Ryan please enlighten me.  Gladly.  Every month brings certain sights, sounds and thoughts.  Even music can portray certain seasons from Summer Breeze or Under the Boardwalk to the cheerful holiday music that is a few weeks away.  I can't take you down to the paradise city as by no means do I consider myself much of a GNR fan, but the band did supply one of their most iconic songs that also became the unofficial song of November.  It's lengthy but if you are unfamiliar have a listen.




The song is approaching 300 million plays through YouTube.  It's a well known tune.  A good old power ballad from a band that is not known for this type of sound.  With a name like "November Rain" you kind of already know what to expect.  No uptempo song here.  

Within the first ten seconds of the video you get a blustery wind, dark room and the sound of rain hitting the ground.  As I sit here looking out at the trees swaying on this overcast day through a window dotted with raindrops I'd say we are off to an accurate start.  Each time we see a scene of light it transitions quickly to dark.  Another good representation of the constant changing weather in this beautifully ugly month.  Then the slam dunk.  The last line of the refrain.  "In the cold November rain."   I'll move on.

Movies you ask?  Indeed there are movies that highlight or at least touch base on the month.  In fact just this summer Pierce Brosnan starred in The November Man.  Take a look.




Whoa whoa whoa.  What did he say?  They called him the November Man because once he came though everything was dead?  I can't help but laugh now.  Even a nickname and movie title use the basis that everything dies in November.  Once again I agree on the perception and will move on.

It doesn't help that the month is sandwiched between two of the more vibrantly colorful months.  October screams of autumn with the changing of the leaves to brilliant colors.  If October had an official color it would be bright orange.  And if gluten has become our biggest enemy, pumpkin has become our new bestest friend.  That stuff has made its way into everything.  Then December comes calling with its month-long celebration of Christmas with songs, lights, shows, goodies, decorations and Jesus.  How can November compete with Jesus.  It's also the one time of the season when most people are actually hoping for snowstorms so that people can celebrate a white Christmas, just like the ones we all use to know.

Thank goodness November has a holiday.  The motto of the month should be "At least we have Thanksgiving." Truthfully it really is one of the better holidays of the year.  But continuing with the sights and thoughts associated with months, what color represents Thanksgiving (and November) best?  For me it is simply.  Brown.  My guess is most agree.  Freaking brown.  If you type in the word Thanksgiving or November into an internet search you literally get dozens of pictures that are generally surrounded by brown.  The trees are bare, the grass is dead, the turkey is brown, the Pilgrims wore brown, the Indians wore brown, the leaves that were once colorful are now delicate pieces of brown mulch.  People will tell you the colors are rustic or earthy.  Those words aren't in November's vocabulary.

Thanks to the Rodale trails for the first time in many many weekends I won't even be able to get out during this first weekend of November.  Not that the conditions are optimal anyway.  Remember all those perfect weekends over the last four or five months that never seemed like they were going to end?  Over.

Now we wait for the first flakes of the season.  It won't be next week but once we hit double digit dates I'd start to take notice.