Autumn Comes Early in Western Washington, and It's Time for Street Performing

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2021: Good afternoon, Climate Strikers! I've been wanting to do a lot more writing, a lot more music, and a lot more of a lot of things; but I can't get up much before noon most days, and my energy level is disgracefully low much of the time. Dammit, it's time for the open-till-eight Starbucks branches to reopen their dine-in status already!

Be that as it may, the fall has already descended on us, at least a week prior to the Regularly-Scheduled Fall Equinox™. It happens that way in Seattle darn-near every year. Back when Seattle music festivals were still a thing, the air would start to cool down, followed by ominous rain clouds, almost immediately after our Labor Day festival, Bumbershoot, wrapped in early September. It would happen, as if on cue, every year. Shoot, sometimes it would start during Bumbershoot, and I'd have to break out the layers and jackets during my festival volunteer gigs at one of the Information booths. In any case, the Fall Equinox™ isn't supposed to occur until tomorrow or Tuesday, but we're well into the actual fall already. And since I've recently renewed my busker's permit; and whereas the regional wildfire smoke seems to have cleared out from western Washington, it's time for me to do more street performing (after a nearly two-year hiatus), at Pike Place Market and elsewhere. At least, we no longer have to sing through face masks, at least until further notice.

UPDATE (SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2021): Folks, it's still fall here in Seattle; but now we're well into Crazy Weather phase, in which it's wet and windy much of the time, and the sun comes out for a few minutes at a stretch, once or twice a day, in order to mock anyone who attempts to perform music outside. I've already booked my Christmas trip over to eastern Washington, to visit my aunt, since both my parents are now in Spirit. Meanwhile, the international COP26 Climate Summit is now underway, but I'm not sure what they're doing besides talking about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Will the participating countries actually follow through on what actions they're pledging to take? I will have to read up on this event, and see if it's worth reporting on in a future blog post.