A pineapple carved with a jack-o'-lantern face, lit from within, sits on a dark surface against a light background.

Autumn leaves…us all a little bewildered!


By Forest Riggs

Finally, the weather gods have decided to bring a little cooler air and less humidity in which to swim. As summer has faded away and the season changes (hopefully), Galveston Island is ready for fall and all that comes with it.

This column has often reported that fall is the beginning of the good-time, festival, party and celebration season on the island. With the cooler weather come many events on the Island that run through the winter and end with an explosion on Fat Tuesday. House parties are on the calendars, church and school bazaars, homecomings with parades and numerous fun-runs for myriad causes.

The LGBTQ community on the Island is ready to host and participate in all the Island activities. It is a good time of year to be in Galvetraz.

This time of year can be a bit hectic and even overwhelming, as it seems to be rushed or pushed upon us earlier and earlier each year. To borrow a line from Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, “I smell mendacity!â€

It seems the retail world starts bombarding us with Christmas in late August. By the time September rolls around, Halloween has already been overdone and passé. When the celebrated days finally do arrive, everyone is pretty much over it; worn out, if you will.

Gone are the days when stores put out Halloween stuff on sale a week or so before and, though Thanksgiving came with some fanfare, Christmas items and music did not get on the shelves or television station until the first of December. My, how times have changed. Be that as it may, everyone loves the fall and the holidays. The other day, a great cartoon appeared in the newspaper. A man and women, clad in coats and scarves, are strolling through a forested area and the lady says, “There is the smell of gingerbread, pumpkin-spice latte in the air.†The man replies, “God help us all!â€

It is funny, but true. Is there anything into which they cannot add the pumpkin-spice odor and flavor? It is in beers, sprays, in incense and wax odor discs. Hobby Lobby and Pier 1 will gag you, and even the candy companies cash-in on the fall season condiment. Someday, Trojan and other rubber companies will probably have pumpkin-spice flavored condoms and edible body oils. There are already pills and edibles on the market that can flavor a man’s semen. Can you imagine a delicious pumpkin-spice cream filling? So what is in it for the L group in LGBTQ, the “cunning linguists,†one might say?

A few years ago, while working in a medical office comprised of mostly women, I walked in to find every gal at her desk with a can of pineapple, sliced, chunked and in one cubicle, a whole pineapple cut into pieces. All the girls were busy nibbling like rabbits in garden. I walked over to a cubicle of a co-worker, who seemed to be doling out Dole slices. I leaned over and asked, “Did I miss something? Is this some new weight loss diet?â€

They all giggled. (They were all a tad…uh…how does one phrase it delicately?…big girls.) My rotund co-worker who went by the nickname Boom-Boom looked up with her chubby little cheeks and sheepishly said, “Make my coochie taste good.â€

There you have it. Pineapple Eaters Anonymous. I stood there not knowing whether to laugh or throw up!

Well, if that works then perhaps several meals a day of pumpkin-spice just might spice-up things down below.

Humor aside, fall and autumn does bring about a change and usually positive in most people. It is cooler, there is a build-up to parties and gatherings, gift exchanges and so on.

When you sit with a well-made martini in your hand, maybe beside a fire as rain cascades down an old, Galveston house window with antiquated, hand-blown glass panes, and listen to Edith Piaf sing “Autumn Leavesâ€, you cannot help but be moved. Old loves, romantic times, a longing for what was or never happened all come to mind — sometimes tearfully.

“I miss you most of all, my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall.â€

Something about autumn makes it special, especially for lovers. Perhaps a cozy fire, cuddling on a couch, some music and adult libations — it is all magical when it happens. Given the pumpkin-spice and alleged pineapple “dietâ€, it could all make for a very tasty fall season.

“Mendacity†you say? There is certainly a lot of that going around these days. Not to take away from dear Tennessee Williams, but today, Big Daddy and Big Momma might enjoy consuming a lot pumpkin-spice and sliced pineapple!

Happy fall to all.

Forest Riggs, a resident of Galveston is no stranger to the adventures of life. A former educator and business owner, he enjoys Island life and all that comes with it. He says he is a “raconteur with a quixotic, gypsy spirit.†Forest has written for several newspapers and magazines as well as other writing pursuits, including a novel and collection of short stories.

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