Catch My Fall

Can you feel it? It's nearly here. We got a little whisper of the season change today. This is the best time of year to be on this rock. I am ready to roll in the leaves BABY!

All the best music is released in the fall. It is the forth quarter and all the new bands have had their shot from January until September, now the heavy hitters come out to play. The biggest artists start the Christmas set up and give us the (supposed) best music of the year. That's why all the magical songs in my (and probably your) IPOD are from this season.

I also relate it to football (which I know nothing, and care less about) and playing in the halftime shows in mighty marching Cobras. I still have dreams I am in marching band, hyperventilating on the sideline. The music, the weather, and late night bus rides home with girlfriends huddled under my jacket...well you get it.

When I moved to Tallahassee, this was the best time to play. The students came back and I spent many a magical night singing to people in the Bullwinkles beer garden. I have a vivid memory of playing "Streets Have No Name" and when the first cord came through the P.A. the crowd erupted. I looked up at some white pin spots, beaming off into the stars, and I thought I had the world on a string. My wife and I had just met.

This is also the time of year the best swells march towards the shore and the North Jetty's first peak. The cooler temps and bigger size thin out the Spicoli's. The presence of mackerel and spinner sharks make the normal act of paddling out by the rocks, and honest to goodness adventure. I 'd have the bus windows down, my board in the back, and "Unforgettable Fire" in the Pioneer, tape deck. I'd run red lights all the way to the park, singing at the top of my lungs, and drumming on the steering wheel.

My first fall as a cyclist was epic, I had just found Cadillac and I thought I was on some forbidden mysto trail. The leaves clear out and the view over to Fallschase from the first ridge was always a good reason to grab a tree. I thought my Kona Fire Mountain, was the best bike ever made.

Last year after weeks of healing, I was green lighted to ride in the woods again. My son goaded me into entering the Tom Brown race. I crashed on the start and got so pissed, I passed five people on the first climb. I finished just a few seconds off my previous years time.

I am sure some bad stuff has happened around this time of year too. I just can't remember any of it today.

W.B.Z.N.