October

Here it is, October; one of the most beautiful months in the year.  It's a funny name, too, as 'oct' means eight as in octopus and octagon.  But October is the tenth month of the year!  It's because on the Roman calendar October was the eighth month of the year.  March, the beginning of spring, was the first month.

The leaves around here are starting to put on their autumnal display.

Emilia and Adam's school

For baseball fans October can be bitter-sweet.  It's the start of the playoffs, eventually culminating in the World Series.  For most fans the end of the regular season brings an end to their favorite team's season.  Their team didn't make it to the playoffs ("again!" in a lot of cases).  For most baseball fans, October is the time for watching somebody else's teams compete in the World Series.  As a life-long Milwaukee Brewers fan I know that feeling very well. 

When I was 13 years old my team did make it to the World Series in 1982.  I don't know how to describe the thrill of that.  Either you've experienced that or you haven't.  It was one of the better World Series; a back-and-forth series with Milwaukee eventually losing to the Saint Louis Cardinals in 7 games.  I'll admit I cried after Milwaukee lost that seventh game. 

I'll remember not only that World Series but that entire season for the rest of my life.  That was the year I went to my first ever major league baseball game: August 14th, Milwaukee County Stadium, the burly Brewer slugger Gorman Thomas hit a home run in a losing cause as Milwaukee fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2.  It was Richland County Night at the ballpark.  I think it was WRCO radio that organised tickets and chartered a school bus to take fans from Richland Center to Milwaukee and back.  I went with my Dad, step-mother and step-brother and I remember getting home at around 1 o'clock the next morning.



My favorite baseball player of all time, Robin Yount, #19.

The Battle of Lepanto

October 7th marks the anniversay of the Battle of Lepanto, which occured in 1571.  The significance of this battle is that the Muslim Ottoman Empire (centered in Turkey) was a dominant power in the Mediterranean Sea.  Christian Europe was in danger of falling under Islamic control.  A naval fleet made up of an alliance of Christain forces (Venice, Spain, the Papal States, Genoa, Savoy and Malta), led by the legendary Don Juan, met the Ottoman naval force in the Gulf of Patras near Greece.  The Christian forces were outnumbered.  Pope Pius V encouraged all Christians to pray the rosary, asking the Virgin Mary to intercede on behalf of the Christian forces.

During a meeting in Rome on October 7th, many hundreds of miles from the scene of the battle, the pope suddenly stood up and walked over to the window.  Looking out the window he said, "This is not a moment for business; make haste to thank God, because our fleet this moment has won a victory over the Turks."

When news of the Christian victory reached Rome days later, the city rejoiced.  The pope instituted a new feast day for October 7th, Our Lady of Victory.  The Church still celebrates this day as the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

On a literary note, the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, of Don Quixote fame, fought in that battle and lost the use of one arm.

Some poems

Back in 2000 I had the honor of having a poem accepted for publication for the first time.  A monthly magazine called The Villager, published by the Bronxville Women's Club of Bronxville NY, published the following in their October 2000 edition.

Three Views On October

"Oh, he's a fat one, sated on the fruits of summer.
But his days are numbered, he's nearing death.
Smell the sweet decay on his breath."

"No.  He's a harlequin, this jolly October.
An audacious fellow, dressed in florescent red and yellow.
Look at him laughing and dancing in the face of winter!"

"Excuse me, gentlemen, I must intervene.
Our October is a haughty Queen,
with a gold and scarlet cloak, and hair of amber.
Her eyes of evening blue look coolly to the future."


There were a total of five different poems by five poets included in that month's edition.  The other four are very good, so I'm flattered that my poem was considered worthy to be included with those.  My favorite of the five poems is this one by a William Beyer:

October

October moves

Like a proud peacock,

Gold

As wheat,

Red

As fire,

Passing up

The garden path

With great desire.