a prelude for october (scenes from an apocalypse, cont'd)

October has arrived at long last. Summer's grip has at long last faded, though at least here in Seattle it still fights to hold on even now; there's a chill in the air and the days are rapidly getting shorter, and the leaves are starting to change. A few early ones have fallen already, and drift through the streets in the breeze. Autumn is here.

It's always tempting to say there's nothing new to report, but it's never really accurate; it's simply that everything awful that's happening becomes a part of the normal backdrop of everyday life. For instance, it wasn't the case a month ago that the president had openly declared that he plans on executing a fascist coup should he lose the election, but is it surprising? It feels almost unremarkable, now: of course he is. That was a threat even back in 2016.

The pandemic continues as it ever has; after a month or two of cases locally declining (albeit slowly), they're on the upswing again, and our officials have long since lost interest in doing anything about that. It's demoralizing, realizing that our leaders have never cared about us, or even just having it confirmed--some part of my little anarchist heart has wanted to believe that in a time of crisis, perhaps our elected officials might get their act together. You have to hope there's hope, right?

This month's theme is "liminal." Spring and autumn are times of transition, and the fall in particular has always been seen as a season of change. There's a certain irony in choosing October for this, of course; here, at least, both September and November are more transitional months here; September is frequently summer's last stand, and November is when winter first has its chance to have its presence felt. October, though, October is when the autumn feels most like itself. When the liminal has a chance to have a character of its own.

I've been working on some short stories recently (if you missed the last one, it's here). Last year for October I wrote something here every day using Inktober prompts; which, while a fun project, would certainly distract from my continued attempts on that front. But I like October, and I liked working on that. So I'm going to try to get some concrete work done on whatever story I'm currently working on every day this month. (But I reserve the right to write some other things if I feel like it, I guess?)

It's not much, but you have to hope there's hope.