Upstate Geechie - Fall 2021

Fall in Golden Glow, Lowman, Chemung County is iconic. We celebrate the equinox fully. It is a regional celebration. Of course it mirrors the nation. Pumpkin-spice, Friday the 13th and pumpkin carving are requisite. To me?, the last two cool. Pumpkin spice should be ostracized forever from the spice family. Nutmeg and cinnamon should whoop that fraudulent ass.

Pumpkin carving involves roasting seeds. I know this is beyond the 607 but it is a yearly must. The heart tho. Me encantan las pepitas. Salted and one-day old these seeds are an upstate staple. The intimacy of scooping slimy intestinal veins and organs masquerading as pumpkin pulp is cool. I use a flat edged ladle to shave the interior. Sorting through the resulting mess is how use get every single seed. We spread our pumpkins over old Star Gazettes. Like roasted peanuts the shades and tastes span a spectrum. I like mine slightly burnt. In 1978 they were in my 6,000,000-man lunch box. Upstate knows fall.

We do not have a Cabellas or Bass Pro. Purchasing a hunting, fishing, trapping, sportsmen license is ritual. For most of us it is an annual fall celebration. The wealthiest amongst us have lifetime licenses. Buy them very young or very old, elsewise they are too expensive. Dicks, some County Clerks are buying spots, places to get licensed. Finding duck stamps can be even tougher. Chemung County is a hunting/trapping nirvana. I hunted when I was young. A Daisy BB gun was the first weapon I owned. My father taught me how to make a figure four trap. We trapped coon and opossum in Lowman, flawlessly. These days I look forward to fall for many reasons. Hunting is one of them. I should add hunting season is when I get to see my brother Chris the most. Love that.

Mums, like mums are so quintessential. I used to buy mine from an old cat at Caton corners. He bought in bulk in Yates county at the markets. Front porch bougie presentation is so Upstate fall. We grow, buy, fashion, woodwork and stylize our homes. Shit is cool. I grow amaranth in the front. Sometimes I grow broom corn. I try to blend homegrown and Dollar General.

Our fall cultivars are so us. Goldenrod, apples, nettles, milkweed, pussywillows, dandelions, knotweed, tall-ass Queen anne’s Lace….. The grass grows faster, the mornings smell cleaner and the drives home are windows down.

I love fall in upstate. #UPSTATEGEECHIE