Today is the first day of autumn. I tried living in a part of the country that doesn’t have a change of seasons (unless you consider hot and really fucking hot to be seasons) and I just couldn’t do it. I need to swap my wardrobe out. I like my sweaters and coats and my scarves that are right out of a Dickens novel. Here comes thick stews and tossing The Daughters into a pile of raked leaves, all-day pots of hot coffee and Sunday football.
It was a sweltering, punishing summer to be in New York City but it was a good summer for the New Jersey shore. Hot with little rain to ruin the weekends. But that’s all over now. These guys are going to have to find something else to do with their time.
We had some brutal storms. There were a few hurricanes that pass by too far out to sea to do any damage, but in their wake they left deadly riptides. There were a few drownings this summer. Just imagine. You go to the beach to cool off for an afternoon and end up being pulled out to sea. If you’re ever caught in a riptide, you should swim parallel along shore until you’re out of it, and then back in to land. Too many try and swim directly in. If you get into a fistfight with a riptide, the riptide will kick your ass.
Mrs. Wife knows her way around the Jersey shore. She know how to avoid the Garden State Parkway traffic snarls by taking local roads and knows which beaches are the least populated with out-of-towners. (They’re snidely referred to as Bennies. I have no idea what it means.)
This place will close in a few weeks. For me, there are two things that signal the true end of summer; when Lighthouse closes for the season, and the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy. Once the last sausage and pepper truck rolls out of town, get out your gloves.
But that’s not a bad thing at all. I posted this video last year around this time. It’s Billie Holiday’s rendition of Autumn in New York. I have no idea who put this together but it’s simply beautiful. When I watch it, it makes me all goopy inside for New York.
Glittering crowds and shimmering clouds
In canyons of steel
They’re making me feel—I’m home
Exile on Pain Street 
man, oh man, oh man! the person who least deserves to be in NYC is there right now until monday (the bitch), but hearing billie and seeing the grainy pics made me smile. i think it’s time to play all the NYC music i have…new york, new york, it’s a wonderful town… thanks, UB! xoxoxox
What are those guys doing?It’s been autumn since July here.
Ahh! Billie. Like Sav, I’m there in music.In fact, I’m loading some Sinatra right now…
sausage and peppers. clear high pressure blue skies and cool temperatures as the sun sets. punkins. yes. that’s how the word is spelled.bring on autumn. oh fuckin’ yeah!
Love the video – thanks for posting again.Where I live in GA it was hot for about a week in May and it has been really, really fucking hot ever since. Still no hint of letting up a bit. I love sweaters and scarves and wool….but i’m stuck in this relentless hellhole with no hope of a wardrobe change.Your blog is like an ice cube on the back of my neck. Thanks for the brief relief.
I will come back, someday!God bless the child Ms. H! :¬)
Savannah: I was in Phoenix for 18 long months. God, it was hot. So I tucked my tail between my legs and went back east. Never looked over my shoulder.Eryl: They’re fishing! Those are big fishing poles that are anchored in the sand. I’ve never seen them catch anything but I hear they do.Dinah: Have you been raiding my CD collection again? I’ve got The Daughters on a steady diet of Sinatra.Daisy: Pumpkins. I forgot the pumpkins. Do you know how to roast seeds? I do!Lori: I’m always happy to be of service. No charge! I’ve seen a bunch of plays this fall already. I’m behind on my theater posts. Map: Who’s better than her? Nobody, that’s who.
Billie’s smokey cadence is just right. Wish I’d seen some jazz. But perhaps my yen for New Orleans would be more appropriate.
I grew up with this music. Billie, Sarah, Ella – such great gals. Life wouldn’t be the same without seasons. My favourite – Springtime.How great to have two little girls to help with the leaves?
Dolce: You don’t need New Orleans for jazz, dear. There’s plenty of it right here. I’ll hook you up the next time you’re in town.Pat: It’s hard to imagine turning on the radio and hearing this stuff. Contemporary music — the kind they pipe over the airwaves — is crap-ola. All beats and no heart.
The pool gets covered; our last summer fling is this weekend…fly fishing. The awning comes down is my sure sign that fall is here and winter is on its way. The snow really is beautiful; but the one thing I am most looking forward to is having the NJ family for Thanksgiving!MT
No, UB, I didn’t filch your Franks. I have(I think) every recording he made. Obsessive? Moi?Your girls are so lucky to be getting a rounded education. 😉
NJ gets the riptides and MN and WI get what’s left of those tropical storms: flooding.Never been to the shore on that side of the country. It looks VAST.Landlocked,Pearl
London’s just got it’s first Autumn day as well…right after a really nice warm summery day. I swear the seasons do it just to piss us off. “Here’s what you could have had if you lived in a country with weather that did what it was supposed to! Come on down!”
MT: The hotel reservations have been made and the girls are prepped. Dinah: They can also identify Ella Fitzgerald and any Beatles song. They are properly brainwashed.Pearl: You guys get those whoop-ass blizzards out of Canada, don’t you?Jo: You wouldn’t want it to be nice out all the time. Trust me. It gets old. In Phoenix, I use to PRAY for a stray cloud or two to break up the monotony.