a cold and snowy trip to asheville

After a few years of Samhain coming and going without much change in the weather, it appears that the day was actually the harbinger of winter, at least here in the southeastern US.

Pat and I went to Asheville for the weekend, to see the Avett Brothers play on Halloween night, which they did, in full Wizard of Oz get-up. A different kind of Samhain, and one that reminded me of the giddy fun that dressing up in a costume on Halloween night can bring. It's not something I do very often, these years, but seeing them up on stage, unrecognizable until they sang, it hit me again.

Then, we came home from the concert, checked into our motel, and slept, hard. Next morning...snow. 

Spent the day roaming around in Asheville, tasting craft beers, admiring art in galleries, and generally freezing our asses off in the howling wind and nearly horizontal blowing snow. All this bluster amounted to about 3-4 inches altogether, and never did the roads freeze. 

I love Asheville; like all college towns, it is walkable, and full of lovely things to eat and drink. There's a crazy, creative vibe here, as well as a terrific, folk-tinged music scene. The Avetts call it home, so the concert was extra shiny-happy, given that the boys were coming home after a tour. 

Now. November. A month I used to dislike, but now it, like January, feels like a bit of a fresh start; the pagan new year, given Samhain is the last harvest. Time to tilt toward winter.