Spiders of the Fall

The higanbana, aka spider lilies, are here so it feels like autumn has started. What's even better, the weather has cooled. A little.

So yesterday I decided to try my hand at making some persimmon muffins, persimmons being in season and a traditional autumn treat in Japan.

They came out pretty well. I used almond milk because my guts just can't seem to handle cow milk these days. It's inconvenient because, as I was surprised to discover, a kind of milk mania has arisen in Japan in recent decades. I suspect it has something to do with a dairy industry lobby. But now a population that's more inclined to lactose intolerance than many others is subject to and perpetuates messaging about how drinking milk is manly and essential to health. I often think of Ash from Alien.

There have also been a lot of butterflies lately. Here's a beautiful caterpillar I saw yesterday:

The right side is the head and the left side is the butt. The little wand on his butt waggled as he walked.

X Sonnet #1742

Intoning tunes, the parrots brought the song.
Astounding deals were reached in secret lots.
Acquired cars were gently used for wrong.
Perceptive right was lost amid the bots.
A flying goal was just its name in truth.
Machines mishandled mar the turtle chest.
Misfortune finally pulled the pulpy tooth.
Consumption chose the morsel eaten best.
A symptom table choked on ginger ales.
Remember blank, the name without a line.
Afforded bars allow the prison bails.
But then again, the ghost can pay a fine.
Arriving spiders summon red and thin.
Concealing blades of grass were green and slim.

The Lost Pumpkin

I found an orange pumpkin! Two, in fact. It's not really a bona fide American orange pumpkin, I guess, it seems to be a freak among the normal Japanese green pumpkins. It tasted like the green pumpkins--I boiled it with some udon and cabbage. But it looked nice and autumnal on the kitchen table.

The photo's actually from last month but it scarcely feels more autumnal now, halfway through September. We're in the middle of a heat wave here in Kashihara, Japan, in fact. I suppose that's nothing new but September 15 is Felt Hat Day, the day men used to switch from wearing straw hats to felt hats. And I was definitely not up to making that change. The fact that the day is located on September 15 let's us know there was a time and place when it was generally reasonable to switch to a warmer hat.

This is no weather to have your head wrapped in felt. If you ever see pictures of real archaeologists in the field, you generally see them wearing straw or canvas hats, not felt like Indiana Jones wore through South American jungles and African deserts. Felt sure looks a lot better on camera, though.

I'm spoiling for fall. A few days ago, I watched Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow again. I often want to revisit that film around this time of year though I tend to like the script less every time I watch it. I guess it's in keeping with Burton's Hammer and Roger Corman influences that the story diverges so much from the source material but the Christianity vs. Science vs. Magic theme feels increasingly dated. Still, if they'd gone with the original story, they couldn't have had any of the cool Headless Horseman action scenes. I love the Danny Elfman score, the cinematography, the production design, and the costumes. Christina Ricci looks gorgeous and Johnny Depp gives a good performance.