‘tis the season

Fall has come to the Plateau. Let’s celebrate!

Well, friends, the Mariners have finished another losing season and it looks like the Seahawks are still trying to get things together. An evening fog has settled over Krain corner, the early morning chill requires a jacket, the odor of burning leaves wafts about the backyard, and they started hunting for Bambi a couple of weeks ago.

In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re already a month into fall. The peaches are canned — if you’re into that kind of thing — and the garden is emptied down to a few carrots and beets. Let’s assume your outside chores, like painting the house, fixing the roof, weeding the flowers, and mowing the dandelions, have been completed because the next six months won’t be particularly favorable to such pursuits.

Hopefully, on that partly-sunny afternoon a few weeks back, you had an opportunity to see the gorgeous, scarlet hue in the “ker-leafing” trees along Railroad Avenue. Indeed, it’s enough to give you pause for a second look. And even though our falls aren’t as brilliant or colorful as those in New England, we can still be proud of the golden splash along the Green Valley Road.

I’ve seen a few corn stalks propped up on front porches. It won’t be long before you’ll also see a jack-o-lantern or two, which I hope were picked from Farmer Brown’s pumpkin patch instead of that large crate in front of QFC. Downtown store windows will soon be painted with playful Fall scenes and the merchandise in Rite Aid took on a Halloween décor several weeks ago. In fact — talk about rushing the season — I recently saw a Santa Clause on TV.

In a few more days, those pint-sized zombies and fairy-princesses will be running hither and yon on the streets, darting from store to store. Much later in the same evening, more mature, gruesome goblins and ghosts will be haunting the downtown watering holes and the Ski Inn will be awarding costume prizes.

The day after Halloween is All Saints Day which, according to tradition, is the day Roman Catholics give thanks to the Saints. To solemnize this occasion, our turn-of-the-20th-century Yugoslav immigrants brought a charming little custom from the old country. For a couple hours around sunset, a number of the faithful gather in the Krain cemetery for a candle-light vigil. Though I wouldn’t want half the population of Enumclaw over-running this tiny graveyard, the ritual is a unique, wonderful, and mystical kind of wake that’s certainly worth experiencing, especially after stumbling through a drunken stupor the previous evening.

Cheers everyone! It’s fall!