Possum Philosophy: A season of light and dark

By ROBERT CAHILL/Columnist

It is October and officially autumn. To paraphrase Charles Dickens’ opening of “A Tale of Two Cities,” it is the best of times, it is the worst of times; it is the season of Light, it is the season of Darkness.
I am always ambivalent about this time of year. Here in Virginia’s beautiful Southern Highlands, October can have some of the nicest weather of the year. Indian summer, as it is sometimes called, can be wonderful with absolutely gorgeous days, warm but not too warm, cool but not too cool evenings.
For those of us who enjoy taking photographs it can be perfect. There is an old adage in photography that says the best time for taking nature photos is early in the morning or late afternoon. It is based on the angle of the sunlight and the lighting available at these times of day. In October, almost any time of day is good. The lighting often seems to be just right. It gives everything and everyone a golden glow. As my old friend Don Simmons, a great photographer in his own right, once told me, the natural light at this time of year will even make homely folks look good.
It is also a great time for its color. In our region, we have some of the nation’s most beautiful spots to observe the color change in the foliage of trees and shrubs. Throw in autumn wildflowers with their bright colors, paint them over with the golden sunlight, and it is nothing short of majestic. For every wonderful view along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive or the Great Smokey Mountains, area folks can find one just as beautiful in Smyth County’s Rich Valley area, around Sugar Grove, up through Bland County or in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and with far less traffic congestion.
But, the season has its downside as well. The days are growing shorter, temperatures cooler. Soon livestock will need feeding rather than having good grazing. With the cooler temperatures, most of us are already worrying about home heating this year with the cost of oil and heating products still ridiculously high and no real remedy in sight.
Of course, there is always the pinnacle of baseball, the World Series. But even here I am not too thrilled this year. Ordinarily, no, not always, but quite often I would be enjoying watching the New York Yankees play in the Series. As I have said before, I am a third-generation Yankees fan. My grandfather Sam Cahill was a Yanks fan, so was my Dad. I began watching baseball almost before I could sit up. Mom said Dad would sit me on his knee and watch the few games that were broadcast on TV back then. (And yes, they had television then.)
I am probably a member of the first generation that does not remember not always having TV in the house. But there were lots of differences. It was strictly black and white (well, yes, there were grays too). There was no ESPN. There were no 24-hour broadcasts. After the evening news, there was usually a prayer by some preacher local to wherever the TV station was located. Then the National Anthem played and off it went, leaving just a test pattern on the screen.
Another difference was that since not many homes had TVs then, when a ballgame was on, it didn’t have to be the Series just any baseball game, the room would be full of friends and relatives crowded around the small TV watching. After all, very few folks from this area had seen professional baseball played live in the early 1950s. It was a real treat for all of us.
But the World Series was special, very special. Practically every relative and friend Mom and Dad had were there for any game shown. At least the ones that did not yet have a TV and that meant quite a few. According to the Baseball Almanac (http://www.baseball-almanac.com), the true World Series didn’t start until 1903.
However, by 1884 a three-game series between the Providence Grays of the National League and the New York Metropolitan Club of the American Association played a three-game series for what was then called “The Championship of the United States.” The Grays won. My fellow journalists of the day started calling the Grays “World Champions” and the name stuck. For the next six years some series of varying lengths took place between the two leagues. However, in 1891 the American Association folded and it would be 12 years before a true World Series was played in 1903.
For my fellow Yanks’ fans out there, here are a few tidbits of their history mostly from Wikipedia. the online encyclopedia (en.wikipedia.org.). The Yanks originally started in 1901 in Baltimore and were known as (yes, I know it is unbelievable) the Baltimore Orioles. Thank goodness that only lasted two years. In 1903, they moved to New York and were first known as the New York Highlanders, also the New York Yankees. Then solely the New York Yankees by 1913.
The Yanks made their first World Series in 1921. Since then they have been in 38 more World Series (which is more than one-third of the 103 Series played) and have won 26 of them, more than any other major league team.
Sadly, this has been a terrible season for the Yankees. They were not even close to making the playoffs, much less the Series. So I guess I’ll just have to pull for another historic club (although they have already lost two play-off games) the Chicago Cubs, a team that was winning baseball titles before Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s last stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Unfortunately the Cubs, after winning the World Series back-to-back in 1907 and 1908, have not won another World Series in 99 years. So, since it can’t be my Yanks, then GO CUBS!!!

A freelance journalist, Robert “Rocky” Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition.