Autumn Descends...

Autumn. My favorite time of year...

The last few autumns have been symbolized in feeling by a mix I made for Erin's birthday of '03. I introduced her to guys like Nick Drake, M. Ward, John Vanderslice, Sufjan Stevens, Mazarin, The Byrds, M83, The Angels of Light, and Belle & Sebastian that autumn... "And A Nightengale Sang" rehersals went on all throughout that season... It was the first autumn I spent in my Toyota, in college, travelling northwest rather than east most days...

Seasons have a funny way of sticking in your mind with memories as your mind's catalyst. Mine usually have to do with mixes I've made over the years...

Happy Birthday 1 & 2 remind me of the fall and winter of '01 and all the hours we spent laying in her bed together.
11 Month Interval conjurs up images of taking the shuttle bus down Foster to baseball practice @ LaBagh Woods in the spring of '02.
"Source Tags and Codes" by ...And They Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead reminds me of the end of that summer and how it was the first album I ever played in a car that I drove.
Birthday 3 & 4 reminds me of when I started to use my '92 Caravan as a means of getting to friends' homes rather than just school as well as "Midsummer" rehersal.
Dance With You reminds me of early morning baseball practices, walking through an empty, foggy Northside parking lot.
Moving Electricity reminds me of our last summer together and my first "real" job @ the DMV.
Happy December & XMas 4 put memories of serene walks around my neighborhood covered in snow @ 2 a.m. in the early weeks of '04.
Standing on Your Lawn screams depression of '04.
35 Month Interval is working @ Old Navy with the thought that I wouldn't be there long (as in NOT 2 years).
Birthday 7 & 8 remind me of "American Daughter" and Ingrid and how awkward it was to have feelings for someone who wasn't Erin.
Its Spring, Its Your Life is "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and the hope of getting on with my life finally.

There are a few of these (namely the first two Birthdays) that hold an even more significant place in my heart for some reason, though. These are the ones that go beyond conjuring up memories of the approximate time of the mix and ascend into what I can only describe to myself as a "feeling." Those few mixes and certain songs on them just feel like a moment still fresh in my mind...

Anyway, as I was saying... Autumn has come upon Chicago.

And it is glorious...

Now Playing: Nick Drake - "From the Morning"