Fall is coming. Thank God

If there was ever a time when we needed a change of seasons . . .

When Clare the dog and I went out for our early morning walk there was a chill in the air. Fall is on the way.

I am so ready for fall. Usually autumn is the bummer ending because we hate to say goodbye to summer. But given the last few months, I say, “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya.”

Fall is a promise of better days. Or at least a resolution to troubling times. We may not beat the Coronavirus this fall, but at least we have some things to look forward to.

Which, obviously, begins with the election. There are fewer than 30 days left and I am not sure I can stand the aggravation.

There’s an old story about two guys going hunting and one of them climbs a tree to look around. What he didn’t realize was that there was a wildcat in the tree. The cat attacks and the poor guy is fighting for his life.

“Shoot! Shoot!” he yells to his friend.

“I’m afraid I’ll hit you,” he replies.

“Well shoot up here anyway.” he says. “One of us has got to get some relief.”

That’s me. We can argue politics if we have to, but I am so sick of this I’m even tired of hearing my views.

By now it’s not even policies or politics now. It’s just the constant state of aggravation and agitation. Every time things settle down President Trump starts another argument. I would like to live in a time where, “Fistfight on airliner over wearing face mask” isn’t a daily headline.

The constant state of “Now what?” with President Trump is exhausting. And it must be for his supporters too. It’s no easier for them to keep up when something crazy happens every 24 hours.

In just the last four days Trump’s been on a helicopter, in the hospital, deathly ill, not deathly ill, doing a drive-by and standing on a balcony gasping for breath.

Let’s hold the damn election and get this over with.

And yes, there’s a chance for an enormous shitshow with the votes. And law suits. And blustering. And decisions by courts that will make your blood boil.

But I believe this is a solid and tested democracy, with rules and laws that have worked successfully for over 200 years. I believe there are good and decent men and women among our leaders and they will see us through this.

Which is why my nickname around the house is “Pollyanna.”

Also rain. There will be rain in the autumn. As we always say, “We can use it.”

But honestly, rain right now, this week, would be a Godsend. It is both sad and disappointing that the Cal fires have become so commonplace that we wince and shrug sympathetically, but seem to have lost the pang of real tragedy.

Since 2017, according to the Sacramento Bee, 180 people have died, 41,000 structures have been destroyed and seven million acres have burned. This year the fires have already burned four million acres, an all time record for a single year.

Rain, and there’s some forecast for the weekend, would be so welcome.

And finally, holidays. Fall has more holidays than any other season. It’s not even close.

From September to the end of December, there’s holidays for costumes, turkeys, gifts and a new calendar.

But when they really are are milestone moments for families. You may not able to gather this year — we can’t even sit with our grownup kids for Thanksgiving, which actually choked me up when I wrote it — but it will be impossible not to think of family members, here and departed.

There’s a kind of upward trajectory to it all. Halloween is goofy and fun. Thanksgiving is warm and comforting. Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) is all crazy energy. And then, more needed and appreciated than at any time in the course of my life . . .

the beginning of a NEW YEAR.

Because I can’t take a winter of discontent.

So somebody said to me, “You only write once a week?” And I said, “Yeah, but that’s every week.” OK, so I’m not exactly over-working. But reading it once a week isn’t much either. Sign up right here. It’s free.

The A’s and Astros are two teams that don’t like each other. No, seriously. They don’t.

This week’s five-game playoff series with the Astros means something to the Oakland A’s. It isn’t just that members of the A’s have been outspoken about how the Astros were caught cheating.

There are layers to the rivalry. As I wrote in my Santa Rosa Press Democrat column part of it goes back to when Houston traded Ramon Laureano to the A’s. Unfortunately for the Astros, Laureano turned out to be a very good player.

And the A’s trolled Houston about that relentlessly. So when Houston came to town for three game series, and Laureano was hit three times — twice in the final game — it wasn’t any surprise it turned into a bench-clearing . . . well, we’re supposed to say “brawl” here, but more like push and shove confrontation.

And, by the way, the reason the Astros were caught cheating was that pitcher Mike Fiers, who used to pitch for Houston, went public with allegations. And now, of course, he pitches for the A’s.

Fiers was called a snitch, but as MLB found when it finally investigated the Astros, this wasn’t a case of a kid in center field with binoculars. They videoed every catcher flashing signs and then used a sophisticated computer program to break down what each sign meant.

That’s blatant cheating to win. And Fiers was supposed to stay quiet about that? I don’t think so.

Autumn is also the season of sharing. Here’s a thought, why not share this newsletter with a friend? Or even a total stranger. I get the clicks either way. Hit the button.

OK, when you are done bashing Nick Mullens, 49er fans, here’s something else to consider.

Poor Nick Mullens really does seem like a good guy. But his disastrous performance at quarterback for the 49ers last Sunday was definitely not good. That throw to the linebacker for a pick-six was as bad as it gets.

But submitted for your approval, in their two losses, the defense hasn’t been helping the 49ers much either.

The issue as I wrote in my 49ers blog in the Press Democrat is that they seem to consistently give up long drives. That there are clear moments when they can stop the other team, force them to give up the ball and get off the field. Too often they are not doing that.

The loss to the Eagles on Sunday, was a great example. QB Carson Wentz converted 3rd-and-one’s repeatedly and went for it on fourth down twice, making it each time. The defense had him pinned back on third-and-nine and let him run for eight yards, then saw him keep the drive alive with a QB sneak on 4th-and-one.

Niners linebacker Fred Warner said it after the game:

“We kept them on the field for way too long.”

Agreed.

Contact C.W. Nevius at cwnevius@gmail.com. Suggestions and compliments welcome. Criticism not so much. Twitter: @cwnevius