Songs for an Autumn Evening – A New Englander’s Cold Embrace

Growing up in Massachusetts, where puffy winter coats always covered Halloween costumes and the cold lasted until late April, seasonal reinvention became a way of life. Now, I find myself treasuring nighttime and darkness as the overcast begins to consume more of our days. Even as we disappear beneath layers of jackets and vests and our senses dull in darkness, fall offers us a chance to return to the self. We are able to get lost in our thoughts as the weather gets less forgiving. I say we welcome these thoughts, taking them in with the dark and somber of autumn.

Seven Magical Books to Get Lost in this Fall

The season of reading is upon us as Ithaca transforms into a canvas of scarlet and gold redolent of crisp air and foggy mornings. There is no better time to get lost in the enchanting, and sometimes spooky worlds of fantasy — so here are seven must-read fantasy books to add to your list this fall. House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

House of Salt and Sorrows was one of my favorite fall reads from last year. Craig crafts an eerie, atmospheric tale based on the “Twelve Dancing Princesses” which contorts opulent balls into horrifying vestiges of beauty, blurring the line between reality and nightmares. Annaleigh Thaumas and her remaining sisters live at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, which is haunted by the mysterious and increasingly tragic deaths of their four sisters.

Cuffing Season and The Taxi Cab Theory 

It was just another Friday night in October when my friend texted me: “It’s stoplight themed. So make sure you wear green.” For those unfamiliar, stoplight themed parties are exactly what they sound like—wear red if you’re taken, yellow if it’s complicated, and green if you’re single. I politely declined, but not before realizing I’d be the only one wearing green out of my friends. 

It’s the Season of the Sticks

Stick season is known in Vermont as a time of transition, a feeling that underlies the album throughout changing relationships, towns and seasons.

Warm and Rainy Weather Delays Ithaca Fall Foliage

This season has seen peak fall foliage well past October, which is two weeks later than the peak season of last year. Prof. Taryn Bauerle, plant biology, explained that while warmer temperatures and increased rainfall contributed to the delay in the leaves changing color, minor variations in weather can be expected year-to-year.