BSR Web Staff: How We Feel About Fall 

Photo credit: youtube.com

The fall season has started around the United States, and if Fall is your favorite season, then you are in luck! The Black Squirrel Radio Web Staff has decided to come up with a word or two that tells them fall has arrived.

Football- Brandon Lewis

Every year when I see the leaves changing colors and falling off the trees, I know one thing is true: Football season is in full swing! For 16 weeks, I get to sit on my backside on Sundays and watch the Philadelphia Eagles play. It does not matter if they play really well, or if they rip my heart out, I always come back for birds football because I bleed green! I could go without the chilly temps, but I’ll take it if it means I get to watch Carson Wentz make incredible plays week in and week out!

Fresh apples and hay rides- Reegan Saunders

It’s hard to grasp that fall is upon us as the summer sun continues to shine in late September, but the moment the cool fall breeze rolls in everything will be as it should. The air will smell of hot cider, and donuts and pumpkins will line the streets, or at least, that’s how I picture it. 

When asked about my favorite part of the autumn season, I was stumped because it’s not so much one thing as it is a collection of all my memories. It’s soft serve ice cream after the first day of school and weekends spent running around the corn maze at the local farm. Fresh apples fill the grocery stores(I’m from Michigan), and bonfires provide warmth and laughter.

But this year, fall will be different. My soft serve comes from Eastway, and the apples never taste as sweet. Homesick: That’s what fall makes me feel, but what keeps me going is the music, so here I am sharing a few songs that live and breath the changing color of the trees.

1. “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire(of course!)
2. “Oh Susan” by Mark Whalen(and honestly most of Mark Whalen’s music! Check out “Someone to Be”)
3. “Peach Scone” by Hobo Johnson 
4. “Corduroy Dreams” by Rex Orange County
5. “Banana Pancakes” by Jack Johnson 

Laziness- Jake Majka

Fall is the GOAT season. It’s not even close. All of you can say you love summer and sweating in 85 degree heat because you get to go “outside” and “socialize”.

Well, I know you better than you think, and I know you actually spent your entire summer working an internship that took up all your time, so when you finally were home, you just binged The Office for the 19th time. We’ve all been there. But FALL (or autumn, if you think you’re classy or something) lets you live whatever kind of lazy OR exciting life you want to live!

You want to binge 3 different shows at once? Good thing it’s going to be 55 and windy outside! You want to avoid all your terrible online homework on the weekend even though you know the clock is ticking against you? Good thing there’s football on all day Saturday and Sunday(I use this excuse way too much to avoid actual plans with no shame)! Let’s not forget that the biggest music artists wait until fall for their big releases, and in a few short weeks, hockey and basketball will both start up. Lucky for you, on opening night of the NBA season, it’s going to be 61 degrees and raining in Ohio. Perfect NBA basketball weather! Go Bills! 

Colors- Rory Larrison

Ever since I was a kid, the burning red and orange trees of autumn were the pinnacle of beauty in my eyes. Maybe it’s because they were the only time I could see my not-quite-red-not-quite-orange hair color reflected back at me. Maybe it’s because I saw the trees around me shedding their dead weight, and the world’s consistent knowledge that they’d be reborn again was always reassuring, or maybe it’s because the sound of shoes passing by on the crunchy leaves below them was the most satisfying sound known to human ears. 

To me, the colors that autumn brings every year are a breath of crisp, cool air. Summer is always too hot to be colorful, winter is bland and gray and spring pastels are pale and overdone. Autumn is a time to be truly vibrant. You can hear the rustling of the yellow foliage. You can smell every ounce of orange in the Pumpkin Spice Lattes. You can taste the red right off of the spotted apples you pick from each branch.

Purple sunsets blanket the sky, and blue fog spreads among the local cemetery. Black cats, bats and witch’s hats line the dorm hallways as students decorate for Halloween. Every autumn shade is so deeply ingrained into our senses that they not only become an essence of the time of year, but help make it the most visionary time of year. And it’s important that we appreciate it while it’s here before the brisk chill of winter fades it away.

Why fall is groovy- Kimberly Debnam 

Unlike every other person I have ever talked to, I absolutely love winter, and as a result I utterly despise summer, so fall for me signals that happy times are near again. Winter time is an exclusive season that only the elite few(myself included) fully understand why it’s such an amazing time. You get fall and Thanksgiving break, which are times most people go back home or spend a bunch of money to make holiday food they haven’t had since last year.

People are excused for wearing sweatpants and take their pants out a few inches in anticipation for the delightful family recipes that occur. Fall is a sign that the end of the year is near. That means it’s a great time to reflect on yourself, your relationships, people around you and any experiences you had to determine how they will steer direction in your life come 12:01 on January 1.

Fall reminds you to eat your fruits like apples and pumpkins. Have you ever had pumpkin juice or carved an apple? Well, fall lets you do all types of weird stuff you wouldn’t do all year long otherwise.

If kids come to your door asking for candy in March, you’re going to think they’ve been abandoned. If you see someone wearing a mask in December, you assume they just robbed a place. If you see cranberries in August, it’s most likely on a juice label and not a squishy log from a can.

Don’t you see?! Fall is a time of acceptance. Accepting the fact that you’re about to gain 10 pounds. Accepting the experiences from the year you couldn’t change. Accepting that pineapple does not belong on pizza. Accepting your neighbor who plays Christmas before December 1. These are the reasons why I think fall is epic. 

Twin Peaks and the feelings from Twin Peaks- Graham Jeffe

Heavy coats that can still be worn with a lick of fashion. A nice cup of joe in the morning, not hot for the sake of melting the ice on your front porch. Apple pie made from freshly picked fruits made for a family gathering. A long walk in the woods.

These are the things I associate with Autumn, and coincidentally, twin peaks. Twin Peaks is the hit television show from the turn of the 80’s into the 90’s. It takes place in the fictional Washington state town of Twin Peaks.

The town is surrounded by dense forest, where a good bit of the show takes place. David Lynch and Mark Frost relish in the autumn feelings I presented earlier even though technically the show takes place in February. The main character, Special Agent Dale Cooper, is a fanatic for the glories of the fall season. He’s always showing his love for pie and coffee.

To me, the woods is a key component to the season of fall. The color of the leaves on the ground and in the trees make walking through the woods a special experience, and Lynch uses this to great effect, setting many scenes deep in the forest. The contrasting feelings of comfort and spookiness that the fall season exudes is perfectly shown in Twin Peaks as no one is truly who they say they are, and the woods holds something much darker than anyone in the town could imagine.

Comfy clothes- Remy Johnson

Fall is unarguably the best season. You can step out and be comfortable in hoodies, sweatshirts and sweatpants. Your shoe options are unlimited, which is a plus for fashion. You have more options for hats as well, and you could also start wearing scarves if you wanted to. 

Horror movies and Pet Sounds- Grace-Marie Davies

Summer honestly blows. You ALWAYS have to wear mini shorts, deal with extreme heat and thigh chafing and sunlight that lasts way too long. But then fall comes, which means the greatest season of all. Halloween, the only time I can be my normal pale self, and it works.

All the streaming sites also put all of the classics(and the awful classics) online for my consumption. Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi, Russ Meyer, what have you, I’m on it no matter what. Even if I’ve seen the movie before, I get so excited to go get slurpies and sit down and watch some nice science fiction double features.

Another fall favorite is listening through Pet Sounds for the 15th time this year alone. Every season brings a new recollection when listening through it, and fall always brings a comforting and familial mindset especially with songs like “I’m Waiting for the Day” and “Caroline, No”. Pet Sounds can fit into any moment in my life and still capture some essence of that time, whether I’m weeping at the haunting beauty of Brian Wilson or laughing at the Dog sounds, and this is the most treasured season for me to listen to Pet Sounds. 

Football(again)- Chris Ramos

Autumn is a bittersweet time for me. I am very much a “summer person” because I enjoy the liveliness associated with the season. Even this past summer in which I worked constantly, I still found time to mix in the right amount of fun. Many of my best memories are linked with summer, so when the air begins to get crisp, I feel a bit sad. I love the scenery of fall, and the aesthetics associated with it. I just wish winter wasn’t next. 

Anyways, one aspect of fall that always stays true is my fixation with football. Now, I’m not a big sports guy whatsoever. I used to be when I was younger but nowadays, I only care about football. There’s just something about watching people with pads collide into each other for 60 minutes that keeps me intrigued. I don’t want to sound sadistic, but it is a fun sport to watch.

It makes the weekend even more worthwhile. On Saturday, you get to watch numerous young players across the country leave it all out on the field for their school and for the NFL scouts that keep a close eye. On Sunday, you get to watch the top players in the game compete on an elite level. 

Now, one could argue that the game is being tainted with all the flags and players who create a league-wide fiasco, but that’s a story for another day. In this case, I am strictly talking about the game and the energy among fans of the game. I think of the hype that bursts open during the season’s kickoff, all of the people sporting their colors, the tailgating and watch parties/kickbacks that ensue, and all of the crazed fantasy football participants(not me). 

Personally speaking, I love to have a game on as I’m churning out homework on Sundays. It keeps me afloat in my academic endeavours. Also, nothing beats going outside during halftime and tossing the pigskin around with a close friend or relative. 

One more thing: Go Colts! 

Pumpkin spice, warm lights and football- Jacob Dickey

To me, Fall is a feeling more than a time.  It’s a chill in the air, the smell of a pumpkin spice scented candle, the light being just a little cozier in the evening as the sun sets earlier and that hopeful feeling that a weekend of football watching, or a holiday with family and friends is not too far out of reach.  It’s the feeling of being warm as being comfortable instead of oppressive, and at the end of a long day, feeling like accomplishment, and not like quitting while the sun is still up. I’m really glad it’s almost here.

Emo and New Wave music, cool weather and fires- Zac McDowell

There is something about throwing on an American Football record sitting outside on a cool night around a fire pit that is just my aesthetic.  New Wave and emo music fit perfectly to the fall mood with it being mellow, edgy and overall “on-brand”. I hate being hot, so whenever the nights get below 60 degrees, it is the sweet spot for sleeping and hanging outside with friends.  I also love sipping coffee or tea around a fire during this type of weather. Fall has always been my favorite season; I am willing to trade an hour or two of sunlight for this perfect temperature outside.