Twilight, Pumpkin Spice, and everything Nice
I finally fill in the last section with the chunky green crayon gripped in my hand. Done! Is it better than Jesse’s next to me? She has opted for the washable markers set on the table at the front. Yes. I think it is better. I pad in socked feet up to Mrs., and hold up the paper, pride beaming through my crooked, missing teeth. The carpet is soft and patterned underneath the table holding an array of iced cookies, fruits, and untouched raw vegetables.
“Lovely, good job. Now go hang it up next to Jonathan’s in the hallway and come right back.”
I re-enter the classroom from the expedition and notice that my favorite part of the movie has begun.
“Hot, hot hot, hot chocolate!” The silly men in cartoon white aprons shuffle on and around the train tables on the small screen.
“Hot, hot, hot, hot chocolate!”
I return to my space on the carpet with a cup of my own hot chocolate with the tiny cereal sized marshmallows floating around. Only three? I finish them first and return my attention to the smiling faces on the tv.
I tug the gray tank top down over my new high rise acid wash jeans and pull the minivan door open with a grin at my friend. We are parked in a large field amongst all the other family vehicles and surrounded by straw-filled triangle-nosed scarecrows. Once past the ticket gates, we walk around the curling bathroom line to the entrance to the corn maze and I remember how tall the stalks reach and break off to litter our feet.
“Let’s go!” My younger brother takes off, his blue tennis shoes lighting up with every stomp on the dry dusty ground.
I look around the lively field to the vendors.
“How about we go get some lemonade instead… Oh! Oh! Or some CIDER!”
Small children shriek and giggle, holding pumpkins half their size in sweaty palms as the ground crunches and the greens succumb to oranges and reds.
Every year as soon as the month ends in “-ber” I start to get a jittery giddy feeling in my stomach. Whether or not it is still 80 degrees outside, my instagram feed is infiltrated with songs from the “Twilight” saga, candles, baked recipe ideas and plaid jammies. So what is it that makes us all so excited for the leaves to turn?
I would have to blame this all on a collective nostalgia for not only childhood, but the closeness felt by many Americans around the holidays. Whether you grew up watching Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, Hocus Pocus, The Grinch, Home Alone, The Polar Express or many other classic movies, the sentiment of the holidays runs deep in American culture. As we grow up, it becomes something to cherish and share with those around you. I often think about Girl in Red’s
“we fell in love in october,” and imagine a fall with pumpkin patches, corn fields, and bonfires. I close my eyes and pretend I am pulling a thick fleece blanket over two pairs of socked feet. I grin up into a pair of caring eyes, and sink into the couch. A movie is playing while the faint aroma of cookies reaches my nostrils. This is what I am nostalgic for. What has happened, but also what is to come. I know I can depend on holidays like clockwork. Where will I find myself this year?
Maybe I’m a hopeless romantic. Maybe we all are.
Now I want you to close your eyes and listen to “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron, “Roslyn” by Bon Iver, and “K” by Cigarettes After Sex. See if you don’t fall into the romantic chasm of chilly air and smoky smells.
Strike Out,
Rebecca Morgan
Rebecca Morgan is the Editorial Director of Strike Magazine Chattanooga. You can find her at rebeccaliz1134@gmail.com or on Instagram @tolkein_ginger
