October on the Coast

Here on the islands, this time of year is a favorite for many of the locals, in large part because it still feels much like summer, but the crowds are gone.

We have the islands mostly to ourselves, y’all.

(Not that we don’t love you: we do. But we prefer not to wait in line for ninety minutes before we eat dinner or purchase toiletries.)

(And y’all don’t know where you are going sometimes. Just saying.)

(Not that I know where I’m going either in…oh, say Toledo, for instance. Well, actually I kind of do, since I’ve been there several times. But take Kansas City. I’m pretty sure I don’t know my way around…well, either of them now that I think about it, so I’d be a bad tourist driver in both Kansas City and Kansas City.)

We celebrated Homecoming this month, which included a week of themed dressing. I now feel like a costume coordinator who’s just realized she just doesn’t have the right skill set for her profession.

But on the upside, I was able to get both my boys to wear bowties for Southern Preppy day. Honestly, for the first five years of living in the Carolinas, I thought bowties were kind of weird. One of our pediatricians came in wearing one the first time we met, and it was highly distracting. I’d never seen a bowtie-clad medical professional in real life before. But I’ve grown fond of them over the years, so I’m glad my boys wore them. They both claim they have no desire to wear them again, but I attribute this to their opposition to neckwear in general.

Here’s some Spanish moss. It really has nothing to do with fall in general or October in particular, but I did take the picture in October, so there you go. 

This is dune grass that, you guessed it, was photographed in October. Something about the color just makes me think of autumn.

Sunsets on the nearby waterways are often glorious. These were taken during a recent October shindig, the kind you walk away from with full stomachs, full hearts, and really dirty feet if you happen to wear sandals.

(Truth in blogging here: They were so bad I actually took a picture because I’ve never seen my feet look like that before. Don’t worry; I won’t show you. I just want evidence in case I ever need it for…something.)

We are getting the beginnings of the color changes that are spread large over so many of your hometowns right now. But it’s also coastal Carolina, so while October is hayrides and pumpkins and cider here, it’s also still

girls seeking shells and

boys wielding boards and

men in search of the last warm waves.