Columnist Bob Bridge
October is here, send up a cheer!
Since I was a child I’ve heard wordsmiths wax rhapsodic about October.
Nathaniel Hawthorne opined, “There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant and effect on the feelings, as October.”
Who could dispute that?
A.A. Milne welcomed the drop in temperature. “Good work shall be done this winter,” he predicted. “Life shall be lived well. The end of the summer is not the end of the world. Here’s to October.“
Lucy Maud Montgomery also was thankfully smitten with the month of merriment. “I am so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers!“
And, most of my gridiron friends gather around fire pits to enjoy sipping beer and carrying on the grand tradition of cheering for their favorite football teams.
What’s not to like?
Well …
At the risk of being perceived as picky or persnickety, the 10th month of the year is anything but perfect.
Halloween?
No, I’m on board with that. While I’d rather die of thirst than sip one of those extraordinarily expensive pumpkin lattes, the haunting holiday offers a tantalizing treasure chest of tricks and treats.
There’s nothing quite like tiny lads and lasses adorned in genuinely imaginative costumes coming to the door in search of candy.
How could anyone say no?
My issue delves a tad deeper.
Why do I find October so off-putting?
Two words: television programming.
Movies based on the occult rank last on my list of likable flicks. I’d rather watch synchronized swimming.
I harbor no interest whatsoever in Chucky, Micheal Myers, Freddie Krueger, Norman Bates, Hannibal Lecter, Damien Thorn or the dreaded Count Dracula. Even Casper, the friendly ghost, generates goosebumps on my arms.
TV titans clutter the airwaves with nothing but these horrific productions from the beginning to end of October. It’s a virtual bloodbath bound to spawn a nightmare or two.
Are there none from this nasty genre I enjoy?
No, not really.
That’s intriguing because when people ask me which writer can effectively turn a phrase, I often endorse Dean Koontz. Though the popular author is crafty and creative, I can’t think of a single book of his I have started and completed.
Excellent writing; pitiful plots.
The occult and science fiction are my two least popular film categories. Too far out, too unfathomable for this fellow’s simple brain.
Absolute, never-view-again, frightening films?
“The Exorcist” and “The Ring.”
Hey, the vast majority of fantasy flicks are just plain stupid. Those two?
They make me think.
I choose not to go there. There are more pleasant paths for the mind to wander.
Bob Bridge welcomes comments at 812-276-9646 or bbbbbridge@gmail.com.
I just got through running 500 miles during the hottest recorded temperatures in AZ recorded history. My last year of running I think, I ran those 500 on destroyed knees.
It was over 100 today! And we had 54 days over 110 degree.
Man, I’m glad October is here.
Those quotes of October you cite Bob are spot on.
As to scary movies, I never liked em but the one chain saw massacre movie where the guy came out from behind the tree with a weed eater was funny!
Look forward to your articles Bob!