It’s autumn 2024 and you know what that means! Thrift store shopping for everything pumpkin to decorate the house! Buying everything pumpkin spice from Trader Joe’s! Purchasing so many pumpkins for household decorations! Actually here in October 2024 autumn is none of those things this year.Fall colors in Big Bear are one of the secrets to avoiding life stresses.
“If you are not outraged then you just are not paying attention”
We may have amazing fall colors in Big Bear Lake but we are right in the middle of an October shit show here in southern California. Our once gorgeous alpine mountain range is being consumed by a 40,000 acres wildfire that was set by an arsonist. What says fall like wearing an N95 mask everywhere you go because the air quality is Mumbai bad? Also, most of our mountain highways may be closed and most of our mountain towns may be under an evacuation warning. Just trying to leave the mountain to do some mundane thrift store shopping, ethnic food shopping or visiting friends is not easily accessible this October. I would love to drive to the local Costco or at least get my Jeep serviced like I was supposed to last week but some asshat put an end to those dreams when he purposely set this fire a month ago now. This wildfire has already cost the state of California eighty-two million dollars. Oh and guess what? Thanks to dumb dumb Californians passing Prop 57 back in 2016 arson is no longer considered a violent crime in California. These days arsonists are eligible for early release in the Golden State. This is why you should read through every proposition each November and get out and vote!
In 2016 California approved Prop 57, and millions of Californians voted that arson was not a violent crime in this shit hole of a state. That right there is exactly one of the problems with the dumb dumbs in this state (Yes the same dumb dumbs who elected Governor Gavin Newsom) This is why we can’t have nice things in California. Like nature. I just want some gorgeous fall colors in Big Bear Lake, without trash and graffiti lining the trails. Is that too much to ask?
Hello October
Even though life in California is nothing but stress, I’m still trying to get out and enjoy the fall colors of Big Bear Lake each and every fall day. As we all know, fall is fleeting. In my part of the country that means forty days if we are lucky of oranges, reds and golds. (And no, I’m not talking about the smoky skies) As the sky cranes fly above me in the national forest pulling gallons after gallons of water out of our alpine lake here in southern California, it’s hard to find any zen out amongst the Black Oak trees, but I’m trying damn it!
Normally autumn days mean cooler temperatures but not this early October for Big Bear Lake! It was a record-breaking eighty-six degrees yesterday as I trekked around with my favorite trail pup. That is just crazy warm weather for us at over six thousand feet for the first few days of autumn! I would really like to break out all my fall wardrobe, sweaters, fake Ugg boots and fleece-lined vests. We are nowhere near chilly days yet.
Wake me up when Sept
ember comes
Sometimes when I get in a shitty mood due to California politics I try to listen to some autumn coffeehouse rock to bring me back to a zen place full of PSL and comfy sweaters. (And not so much ranting and raving with my patriot neighbor in the middle of the newly opened Grocery Outlet)
Oh, the sounds of fall! No not the fall of humanity as I discuss being preppers with my conservative neighbor but the acorns snapping under my thrift store boots or me yelling at my dog to sit still so I can get just one cute selfie of us. Or maybe the sounds of a Lamb Curry bubbling away on the stovetop at our cabin. Now those are the true sounds of autumn. (Not me honking and yelling “Knucklehead” at the asshole I just drove past in the Tesla with the Kamala/ Waltz bumper sticker.)
The sounds of fall are definitely folksy coffee house rock, sure with a side of 90’s alternative! 
Fall Playlist 2024
Hello October, Sugar Lime Blue
Wake me up when September comes, Green Day
Autumn Leaves, Nat King Cole
When the Leaves Come Falling Down, Van Morrison
November, Tom Waits
All the Leaves are Brown, Earth Wind a
nd Fire
Autumn Song, Van Morrison
Autumn in New York, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
Tis Autumn, Nat King Cole
The Great Pumpkin Waltz, Vince Guaraldi
Season of the Witch, Lana De Rey
Autumn Town Leaves, Iron and Wine
Autumn has to be one of the most gorgeous seasons throughout this great country of ours! Have a gorgeous and scenic fall, no matter where you may be hiking this October!
