AN OLD OCTOBER BREEZE.

I look through the window to see world passing me by
The Harvest sun setting, the smoke rises up through the sky
The cold chill is creeping through cracks in the ceiling and floor
Old branches we gathered and brown leaves to seal up the door
– Uncle Acid & the deadbeats – “Lonely and Strange”

Perhaps taking this “Caretaker” job at the local cemetery isn’t as cracked up as it was meant to be. It’s certainly not as glamorous as it sounded when Old Man Covington handed him the keys and headed for the hills in his black Buick, never to be seen or heard from again.

Sometimes after dusk, when Uncle T is taking his umpteenth lap around the cemetery in the middle of the night – strolling through winding paths of old tombstones, ancient trees, and creaky gates — he starts to hear things. Odd things that don’t sound like your typical bumps in the night. Not really an animal but a presence of another kind. A grunting. Then a fowl smell. Then come the apparitions and ghostly voices. Accompanied by cackling noises that almost sound like laughter – something the locals tell him is just a fisher cat. Then…echoed moans that sound like when his grandfather fell down the basement stairs – something that locals tell him is just a loon.

Uncle T tries to ignore these dark thoughts but it is all consuming. He nervously takes a swig out of the brown-bagged liquor that’s been banging around in his pocket all day (something the villagers told him is customary for every cemetery Caretaker to have strapped to their leg). “Sure, why not” he muttered when he accepted the position.

He starts to wonder why this “job” even exists. What would posses someone to work as a nighttime Caretaker at a graveyard? What is there even to do besides walk around aimlessly? After all, it’s just Uncle T and the resting dead.

As he questions his sanity, he presses on and decides he will complete these Autumnal duties. Why? Because these mysterious noises and visions are merely TNUC’s imagination. Not an imagination out of fear – rather they are his thoughts that dwell in the attics, cellars, cobwebs and shadows from the sun this time of year. This was all just a reminder to embrace these thoughts!

It is in fact, the month of OCTOBER. A time when all he needs to do is walk outside and smell the cool, crispness in the air. It could be a neighbor in the backyard burning leaves and smoke coming out of their chimney. Or his 150-year old heirloom apple tree that produces fruit without fail each year. The scarecrows perched in the rotting cornfields that look absolutely ominous this time of year. The essence of Autumn and it’s simplicity lies its greatness.

It’s a reminder to Uncle T and everyone reading this to keep the spirit alive. To let your mind wander, then go explore to allow the most mundane tasks feel interesting. It’s a reminder to take the back roads, country roads, byways or roads you have passed 100 times but haven’t had a reason to take the turn.

Old October breeze as we walk through the trees to our home
We’re stopped by a farmer, an old fashioned charmer alone
– Uncle Acid & the deadbeats – “Lonely and Strange”