This autumn has been awesome. Here is a colorfully worded Top 10 for the season:
#10: Fantastic Fall Foliage
Only one season is known for its foliage. No one says the word "foliage" outside of fall. Stranger danger if you here "spring foliage". This autumn has been a red, orange, and yellow treetop burst. 90% of my ancient Iphone's pictures over the last two months are of my daughters and/or fall foliage. The other 10% of the pictures are photos taken when my daughters gain unauthorized use of my cell phone - this robber photography is for all seasons and will not be tolerated.
#9: Marvelous Music
On the 3rd Friday of October, our family adventured to Ryan's Artisan Goods for a soulful Spanish musical performance. Atayay Robles played some original tunes while our family of four nourished our bodies with pizza. My 7-year-old daughter and I Crayola colored while rhythmically moving to the beat. I had two years of high school Spanish. She has just begun dabbling in the language; thus, we were on a level translation playing field.
A day later, my wife and I attended the final concert in a series atop Bottle Works. The Evergreens entertained the crowd with their music and by playing that music as a duo from 1988, the year Beetlejuice was released. Beetlejuice drummed, Lydia sang, and we enjoyed a night out without our precious children.
#8: Incredible Ice Hockey
After Atayay's calming musical numbers, we transitioned to the barbaric world of minor league hockey. It was a Friday night of soul and violence. My 7-year-old was shot out of a cannon excited to watch the Johnstown Tomahawks. My 5-year-old was initially shot out of the same cannon and then passed out before the 3rd period started. Up 1-0 in the 3rd, the home team was in good position. Then, hockey went haywire. Fluke goal, shorthanded goal, powerplay goal. Down 3-1. Then, it was 3-2. Then 4-2. Then 4-3. Then a final minute where fans screamed, young men roughed each other up in the corner of a skating rink, one lady stayed dedicated to her cowbell, and my youngest daughter slobbered on my shoulder. A symphony of screams and a gentle snore. A hockey night in Johnstown.
#7: Great Golf
Any golf in October is great. Any month of the year I golf, it is mediocre. Birdies are rare, pars are earned, bogeys are common. Beyond bogeys are more common than birdies. An advantage to autumn golf is that you can always stop searching for your ball and just admire the fall foliage.
"I'll take a penalty stroke. Can you believe how colorful that maple is!?" (take picture)
#6: Power Punch Parades
The Fort Ligonier Days parade always has something to spice up the experience. This year we stumbled upon Sugar Frills, an entreprenurial mind blow. Cotton candy with Pop Rocks? Is that street legal? We actually know the owners of this ambitious undertaking so we obviously had to buy this weapon of mass destruction for our kids. It was wildly entertaining to watch the cotton candy grow and to see Pop Rocks gently patterned on top, like tinsel on a Christmas tree. Our daughters' eyes grew with anticipation. The eyes of the parents grew in fear. Dentists revolted.
On the way home from the parade, the girls crashed hard in the Subaru. Thank you Sugar Frills for instilling joy and inducing naps.
Ten days later, the Johnstown Halloween parade required more cardio and less sugar rush. I was the only member of our family not walking in the parade as one of the Girl (Ghoul) Scouts. My job was to gain righteous curbside position and drink a hot chocolate from Flood City Cafe. Mission accomplished.
My ghouls were at the beginning of the parade, thus we got to enjoy much of the spectacle together once we were reunited. One boisterous young boy demanded that every passing vehicle beep. He would have been arrested if it were not a parade. The only aggression shown to this boy was by a maniac with a chainsaw, another parade stunt you cannot pull off in daily living - approaching a child in a threatening manner with a mechanically-powered cutting tool.
Never operate a chainsaw while eating Pop-Rocks cotton candy.
#5: Phenomenal Fest
Stone Bridge Brewing's 2022 Oktoberfest was held on a perfectly crisp Saturday. Seasonal libations, German cuisine, and fall fellowship ruled the day. The end of Franklin Street transformed into a tented community of adulting. Parents told stories about their children, grateful the children were not present to interrupt. When children did come in close proximity, all parents without their kids thought or said "I'm so glad my kids aren't here".
#4: Excellent Education
A gang of Girl Scouts attended a Stackhouse Park hike that concluded with Mother Nature's greatest gift - candy. All hikers roamed the Earth and learned about trees. Some scouts did more roaming than listening. There are hunters. There are gathers. And there are frolickers. We are all community members and it was a great day to be in the wilderness.
For the Trick-or-Treat portion of the event, I was one of the candy passer outers. I may or may not have taken an Almond Joy for myself.
#3: Radiant Reptile
On a Wednesday night in October, I took a brigade of women to watch Lyle, Lyle Crocodile @ Westwood Plaza Theatre. I've always been a proponent of watching singing/dancing animals as a stress-reliever. The motion picture industry has time and time again relied on a range of communicating creatures to light up the screen. Thanks to Lyle for a fun loving musical message - sing your heart out and show love to your family.
#2: Brillant Boneyard
Every Halloween downtown Johnstown's Central Park is staged as the Park Boneyard. A plot of the park is dedicated to death and dancing. A setlist is played by skeletons and zombies appearing on a screen while choregraphed torches flash fire into the autumn air. Our girls stand right up against the rope and we give them their space to enjoy the show. Standing behind them, my wife and I say sentimental things like, "Look how big they are getting" and "we are blessed".
Shortly after that one of us says, "Touch that rope one more time we are going home."
or "I'm NOT putting you on my shoulders."
or "THAT'S ENOUGH!" (reader's pick for the behavior that must stop).
#1: Triple Terrific Trick-or-Treat
The Stackhouse Park stroll was just the beginning of our candy circuit. The Community Treat @ Penn Highlands Community College was a smashing and spooky success. The college's employees and volunteers provided an extensive and well-executed Haunted Hallway, craft cafeteria, and trick-or-treat route. We took a picture of our girls with the giant black bear statue to commemorate the event, a traditional photo-op any time we are at Penn Highlands. Bravo Bear and Bear keepers, a heck of a haunt.
Days later, we attended the Halloween Hullabaloo @ the Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center. Heckofaboo Round 2! This candy craving event included a map if you were brave enough to cross Broad Street. Local businesses were prepared for candy monsters and we made our presence known. In Cambria City Flowers and Brigid's Cross Religious and Spiritual Treasures, we played the time-honored game of "Don't Touch Anything". A witch came out of the Ryan's Artisan Goods kitchen to provide treat bags. I was hoping for an eyeball stew, but there is always next year.
Once we got all our map stamps, we headed to Island Cuisine for a hearty meal (no eyeballs). When initially crossing Broad Street we actually stopped at this new restaurant first, got a stamp of approval, and vowed to return. And I am glad we did. Jerk chicken, collared greens, mac-n-cheese, and more hit the spot. We even got a taste test of goat. That's some great goat. I'll never forget the Halloween surprise of my 5-year-old closing her eyes and loving her some goat.
Pounds heavier, we darted back across Broad Street to participate in the rest of the Discovery Center madness. There were 2nd floor games with my favorite being the putting contest into a pumpkin. I also enjoyed pretending to be a dead man and fishing partner of the skeleton on the 3rd floor boat (classic Dad move..."Honey, take a picture!")
One more Trick-or-Treat scheduled for tomorrow night. Alive, well, and ready for one more route as a family.
A big thanks to the entire community for making autumn awesome! Happy Halloween!
