You Make me Want to Jump

Yesterday, the sun was shining.  Yesterday, it was pleasant outside. Yesterday, it still seemed like summer.  I had a post all planned.

Today, it's all changed.

Today it is fall.  Cloudy. Dreary.  More fall colors have sprung up overnight, muted.

Last week we had sunsets like this.  Not tonight.

Yesterday, wildflowers you don't normally see in October, seemed to be blooming again, emerging from the mulch of fallen leaves Nature has laid down.

Now, it's time for the last days of the harvest, as we enjoy some of our homegrown carrots.

And, it's time for one more thing.  Music.

Every Columbus Day, there's a tradition in downtown Binghamton.  It's a school holiday, here in New York (and the rest of the United States, I suspect) and we have a Tournament of the Bands.  In the Binghamton Columbus Day parade, all of the local high school bands march down Court Street, the main street of downtown, and compete with each other.

Then, it's time for fun.

After the parade, the students, their families, and their chaparones gather for a street party. There is live entertainment.  Non profits sell food.  Thousands of people crowd streets and nearby restaurants.  You could wish downtown was that energized all the time.

Today, when my work friend and I arrived at the scene during our lunchtime, the parade long over, the band was playing "Shout (You Make me Wanna)" and energetic teens at the front of the crowd were jumping in time to the music.

"You make me wanna..." the band sang out and at the "shout" punchline, the crowd jumped. Again and again.

They didn't care about the gloom. They didn't care about the harvest and the promise of cold weather just around the corner.

 One last party before the winter.  One more party before school starts up again.

And tomorrow, I'll have my last Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post before the frost.  Please drop by for the last of this year's outdoor flowers!