Fall festivals, home repair, harvest moons and pumpkin bread

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By Chris Erskine / October 8, 2025

An ancient oak gets the spotlight treatment at “Carved,” now at Descanso Gardens through Oct. 30. (photo by Chris Erskine)

Random thoughts, while eating my weight in Buffalo wings:

Death is inevitable. But if you catch it early…
What do I like about October?
Everything.
Best mood lighting: a harvest moon.
Or a porch full of pumpkins.
So many touchdowns still ahead.
So many tricks, so many treats.
Greatest deal around: the $4.99 deli sandwiches at Sprouts, made to order.
FYI, I watched so much football last weekend that I needed a juice cleanse.
“The believer is happy. The doubter is wise.” – Edgar Allan Poe
Be sure to change your HVAC filter this fall.
Remember, home repair is foreplay.
No, I don’t know what that means. • It’s a motivation tool.
FYI, my house is wired like a 12-year-old’s teeth.
Did you hear about the Ohio State fan who died while drinking his milk?
The cow fell on him.
Trivia time: What football position did Will Ferrell play at University High in Irvine?
Be sure to check out “Carved” the artful fall festival at Descanso Gardens, nightly through Oct. 30.
Then toast the season with a Drunken Pumpkin at Farmhouse (bourbon, pumpkin, cinnamon, lemon).
Favorite autumn toast: “Here’s to staying positive and testing negative.”
Skoooooooooooool!
Just so you know, when restaurant servers say “no problem,” they really mean “my pleasure.”
We live in rude times. Get over it.
“The north wind roaring down in October is cruel and cold and reminds you again – as the sea has a way of doing – that nature does not care for man.”– Elliott Merrick
Here’s hoping for an early and long rainy season.
And that the hillsides hold.
And that the Chargers, Rams, Lakers, Clippers, Kings and Ducks all win.
After a certain age, the best birth control is just to leave the lights on.
When ducklings follow their mom across a pond, all I can think: “Wings!”
When I see geese flying south: “Wings!”
Every time I drop someone at the airport … OK, you get the idea.
Best play-by-play announcer: Al Michaels. And it’s not even close.
When did baseball announcers get so smitten with spin rates? And two-seamer fastballs?
You too, Joe Davis.
Think LAX is haunted? Me too.
Mayor Bass should hold a séance there. I’ll bring my Ouija Board.
Sales of Hamburger Helper, a barometer of consumer frugality, are up 15 percent.
Meanwhile, grocery prices are up 21 percent over the past four years.
That seems like a lot.
FYI, the typical age for first-time home buyers is now 38, an all-time high, Business Insider reports.
Everything in moderation – except pumpkin bread.
In a perfect world, October would be three months long.
To be honest, I can’t tell a sand dab from a potato.
The greatest two-party system ever: husbands and wives.
Kenny Rogers’ best lyric: “You can’t make old friends.”
Would you even want to?
Yes.
Good writing is my favorite sweater.
Good writing makes me late to bed.
Last time I gave a urine sample, there was an olive in it.
So? Get over it.
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” – L. M. Montgomery

October birthdays: Puddles Finn 1; Zach Galifianakis, 56; Sting, 74; Snoopy, 75; the great Julie Andrews, 90.
Yep, the hills are alive!
Remember, Snoop: “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” now runs only on AppleTV+.
Shame on CBS, then ABC, for giving up on a classic.
Charles M. Schulz was TV’s Walt Whitman.
Dear Hollywood Bowl. Love you. But can I bring wine or not?
Trump and Kimmel should have lunch together.
I’ll bring the wings.
L.A.’s happiest dish? The breakfast burrito at Lucky Boy (be sure to add the avo).
Favorite autumn drive? To Fairfax for Canter’s famed matzo ball soup.
Props to every hard-working restaurant staff in town.
California’s dumbest tradition: motorcycle lane-splitting.
Because our roads aren’t nuts enough?
Whoooops, there goes my mirror.
Trivia answer: Will Ferrell was a varsity kicker at Uni High in Irvine.
Best sign at a college game so far this season: “Kirby [Smart] pronounces the g in lasagna.”
Gift tip for your baseball-crazy dad, brother, daughter? Personalized bobblehead dolls.
Thank you for reading.
My pleasure.