Is it really October?

Right now there is one thing that is telling me that we are in October, playoff baseball. I normally would not care, other than the Detroit Tigers are in the playoffs since 1987. A 19 year hiatus from the postseason, it can only be our time. I guess I also know its October by the San Diego Padre fans that I hang out with. They also think its their time, for the first time ever, to be the best in baseball. My prediction, neither team will win the world series, but I got a feelin' that the Tigers will make it farther than the Padres.

I said earlier that there is one thing that is telling me it is October. Normally, leaves would be changing colors, the nights would be getting cooler and Michigan football would be the center of my attention. However, in southern California I cannot tell its October. The days are still warm, the nights are still sorta warm and there are no leaves to change color. I'm excited to experience Thanksgiving day, hopefully still wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and dare I say it, partying outside on New Year's Eve???

In other news, there are, so far, two negative things about southern California I have come to dislike. First, sunset tonight was at 6:31pm, which means it gets dark around 7:00, sometimes earlier. When the time changes later this month, it will begin to get dark around 5:00 or earlier(so I've been told). No me gusta nada.

Second, I have developed aracnaphobia. Not really aracnaphobia, more like "black-widow-aphobia." My roommate has been kind enough to show me several Black Widow Spiders around the outside of house, i.e. near the pool and in the shed. The Black Widow in the shed was quite terrifying. Touch your middle finger to your thumb and that is about how long the legs extended. The hour-glass marking on the spider was very visible as well. Luckily they don't make their way inside....yet.

This Black-Widow-aphobia has worked its way into my sleep cycles. The other night I dreamt I was in the basement (even though they don't have basements in southern California) and I began to pull down some spider webs. Big mistake. A Black Widow with a body the size of my fist decended down the web. Fortunately, I woke up before I wet the bed and that was the last I saw of that spider.