The summer is over, fall is very much in control and winter is knocking at the door so I’ll take these column inches to take a few parting shots as we head into the colder portions of the year.

I would imagine that the snow the other day was a bit of a shock to some, disappointing to others and irritating to still others — or at least that’s what Facebook told me.

Just as it told me through the feisty fingers of others that this is Minnesota and this shouldn’t be a surprise.

They aren’t wrong. Snow isn’t that unheard of at this point in the season in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

But think of it this way — that’s why all the other states call us the cool kids.

Probably a little far for a joke, but at least we’ve set a tone for this column.

Farewell Strawberry Fields

I thought when the mound of vegetation that was my first garden was torn up for the year that my reporting on those things green and growing were at an end. The snow we received earlier this month, little as it was, convinced me it was over, but as I tore up weeds out front to clean things up I realized I still had a bit more to report.

In the northeast corner of the house I had an ever so small strawberry patch. For a little over three years I tried to raise the patch and even encouraged it to spread ever so slightly.

Sign no. 1 things weren’t going right. They really weren’t spreading out that much and I found I had to keep planting.

I always figured the soil probably had something to do with it, or the bush, or a variety of other things, but the reality is that they just never grew, so after three years I finally made the decision to yank them all up and give them over to the raspberries.

As it turns out the raspberries had already been working on that. So thoughtful.

As I pulled the strawberries up and dug around underneath the shrub next to it, I noticed for the first time the yellow raspberry vine creeping through and digging into the strawberries.

A while back I made the claim that even a gardening fool couldn’t kill and destroy raspberries. That stands true, but apparently a fool can easily kill strawberries.

You’re going to groan

When I do my photo manipulations, digital art as such, I always draw out my ideas first.

People always say I’m a bit sketchy.

Boo

It’s October so I watch a lot of horror movies to set the 31-day mood.

I love Halloween, easily my favorite time of the year. The problem is that the number of horror movies of any quality these days seem only to be classics.

This struck me as I was watching “Crimson Peak” early Wednesday morning.

Anything that receives a reboot moniker is rarely of any quality because the originals were so good and the over use of CGI is bothersome.

It’s almost like original thoughts have been abandoned and left at the wayside. Or maybe it’s because reality these days is scarier than imagination. You add a spooky soundtrack and watching the nightly news is probably the most frightening thing you’ll ever see.

Speaking of politics

We don’t get much in the way of phone calls, so it’s probably an indication that it’s election year now that we’ve seen a wild uptick in phone calls with numbers we don’t recognize.

I long ago quit answering the phone. Thanks to a phone feature we see these numbers flash across our TV screen so it makes it pretty easy to just not answer the phone.

It could be that I’m just striking a blow for the common man by not answering the phone and sticking it to the robo-caller on the other end of the line.

Which is really a bit of a disappointment on both sides. First, I would rather not get the call in the first place. I’m tired of the thing going off and the political activism that seems to have very little tact either way you slice it these days.

When I’m trying to relax, the last thing I want is a call trying to swing my vote one way or the other, especially with dubious claims one way or the other.

It appears truth is more like a rash these days — an irritant itch that most would rather scratch at than deal with.

But secondly, it deprives me of the abilityto say anything in return to a real voice and real person. I’m a bit of a dramatist with a healthy imagination and I feel I’m depriving those lucky activists trying to make some kind of difference of a much more interesting start to the day or continuation to the day.

You see, I’m a giver that way and I would really like to give a little more.

One last thing

With winter on the way I’ll leave you with this last thought.

No matter what anybody tries to tell you, no matter what anybody tries to argue or deny.

“Die Hard” is very much a Christmas movie.

It has Christmas music, what else does it need?