Carleton’s Best Season, Autumn

Autumn at Carleton

Can’t you feel it?

That bite in the air,

Morning frost turning the grass to crystalline thorns,

Leaves drifting aimlessly in the gusts of wind,

And a pumpkin-headed skeleton lying on the couch of Musser Hall’s third floor common room.

Yup, Fall is here.

I’d generally consider myself a “grass-is-always-greener” kind of guy. In the depths of Winter, I long for July days. When I sweat my way through Summer nights, I wish for the cozy chill of cooler months. But Autumn is the one exception. From the atmosphere to the landscape, from the colors to the weather, it blows the lesser seasons out of the water.

When else but Fall can you find the most bizarre pumpkin-flavored snacks at Trader Joes? When else but Fall can you carve a face into a vegetable and put a candle inside until it rots on your doorstep? When else but Fall can you see the sun rising behind the trees, sending rays glinting through the branches and casting long shadows across the fiery leaf-blanketed ground, and think: “maybe the world isn’t so bad. Maybe there is some higher power out there that makes Earth so beautiful”? And then you forget about it and decide to watch the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D at 1 AM. As is a typical Autumn day.

Despite my classes taking up a lot of time, I’ve still been able to appreciate everything that makes me love the season to begin with. Gone are the days of excessive Summer heat and oppressive green foliage: during my Geology lab last weekend, the bursts of oranges and reds in the trees made even identifying siltstone conglomerates and basalt fun.

Activities

Carleton offers classic Fall activities like apple picking as well. At the nearby Fireside Orchard & Gardens a few weeks ago, we splurged on things like apple syrup and apple butter before bringing back to our dorms way too many apples for one person to consume. Maybe I’ll use them to make some apple pie at some point. (I feel like I’ve said the word apple a lot in this paragraph. Here are a few more: apple, apple, apple. It’s lost all meaning to me now.)

Some activities I was desperate to go to in order to get my Fall fix, but I just couldn’t find the time. Last week the German club hosted a Zwiebelmarkt celebration. Yes, “Zwiebel” means “onion”. It was a celebration of onions. It was started in Germany in 1653. Man, I wish I didn’t miss that one.

As everyone knows, horror movies are an essential part of the Autumn carte du jour. Luckily, you don’t have to watch them alone in your dorm room to satisfy your bloodlust (metaphorically speaking, of course). The Student Movie Organization plays films every weekend in the Weitz Cinema, and it’s only appropriate that the October features are of a certain spooky tenor. (Although they also played Inside Out 2, which was being screened a week ago for some reason. I had nightmares for days.) Up for these next two weeks are the horror films I Saw The TV Glow and Longlegs. The Carleton Film Society also has our backs, because this Sunday they’re screening Videodrome, a classic and wonderfully disgusting 80’s movie from David Cronenberg. It’s great to be able to watch films on the big screen without leaving campus. Who even needs the Twin Cities?

But soon…

…October will come and go, and the harsh winds of November will usher in colder temperatures and ever-shortening days. The day after Halloween is a sad one. It is a reminder that despite the fun activities around campus, despite the rich atmosphere, despite the beautiful weather, Autumn is still a transitional period. In the words of Ned Stark, “Winter is coming”.

Luckily Carleton is on the trimester system. Our term ends just before Thanksgiving and Winter break lasts six weeks. Before you can say “below freezing temperatures”, you can be relaxing on a beach in the Bahamas wondering how the poor fools at other colleges are dealing with the cold.

At least until Winter term begins. I won’t be laughing then.

Inigo (he/him/his) is trying very hard to turn interests in subjects like film, English, and psychology into a manageable course load. Originally from Somerville, Massachusetts, he can often be found running in the Cowling Arboretum (and getting passed by everyone on the cross-country team) or rock climbing at the bouldering cave in the evening. He loves Carleton’s walkability: it didn’t even matter that he forgot to bring his bike to campus. He considers bad horror movies to be the ultimate form of entertainment.