Fall Onset - September's End

Falls starting to onset; which means several things. One, it’s my favorite time of the year. Two, it’s my birthday. And, so it’s only natural that I begin to get nostalgic and a little depressed. I mean, fall in Louisiana sucks. Yes, it gets cool. But not jacket weather cool, and I really being to miss my roots where season actually existed. I was talking with someone (which I don’t remember) and they explained that Louisiana’s season involve festivals. Christmas, Mardi Gras, summer, and football. While I guess this is a good way to rationalize a boring change, seasons are supposed to be a an all out change. One day you wake up and you need a jacket. All the sudden you go from leaving the house carefree, to required clothing change. Then enters the first day you wake up and the grounds covered in snow. Not only is a clothing change required, but now it takes a good ten minutes to leave for work – more layer, deice the car, shovel the drive, etc. It’s enjoyable until February enters and the weather is even more brutal, and you are just ready for everything to be over. Then one day you wake up and its spring. You can leave the house without a jacket; and everyone takes the opportunity to be outside. Walking. Running. Everything. The days are amazing.

The not so fallish Mississippi River bluff.

The river bend.

So that is how seasons are supposed too function. And the changing from summer to fall always happens at my birthday. Thus, I get a little depressed. This year was even worse because I was going from my twenties to my thirties. So I held a party. Of course, being thirty, the party is funded directly from my bank account. Thus nothing note worthy, except a good gathering of friends. So the following day I decided to take my time and wonder the city. I visited the LSU campus, along with some development sites around the city to quench my urban planning nerdiness, and update my blog. I ended up at the bluffs on the Southern University campus. The only place in Baton Rouge with terrain. It was nice. I pretended the leaves were changing. They aren’t. I pretended it wasn’t hot. It was. But oh well.  I returned home to decide how to spend my birthday weekend night. I poured some Jack and debated where I should go. Around 10:30 a friend got into my head that I should go to New Orleans instead of going to Baton Rouge. I thought it was a good idea. Having not heard from them in an hour. I decided to just go. Mind you, I was now destined for a failure of a night. I mean I live in Baton Rouge, have a routine life, and now I’m thirty. While this is ideal for a stable life, and has allowed me to lose thirty pounds and look pretty good… it’s boring. So my trip to New Orleans was – in my head – to spice things up. But, common, it’s New Orleans. Other than hanging out on the balconies, and doing a little dancing. There’s not much spice to be had. I returned home the following morning accomplishing exactly what I wanted. A boring night out.

So that’s the start of my thirties. The actual birthday night was just as exciting. The thing is, people think it’s suppose to be exciting. But I can do what I want. And that is nothing, right now.