Utter Oddcast #32 (a.k.a. October Oddness 2007 #3) is now available.  Check it out for another dose of Halloween related oddness.

For those of you who’ve not caught it yet, we’re doing a Halloween/October themed episode series all month on Utter Oddcast titled October Oddness 2007.

These episodes are scheduled to be released each Monday in October, for a total of five episodes. AND we’re looking for your contributions to include in the remaining episodes. Please see the website for the full announcement.

Episodes

• #1 - Utter Oddcast #27 (October 1, 2007)
• #2 - Utter Oddcast #30 (October 8, 2007)
• #3 - Utter Oddcast #32 (October 15, 2007)
• #4 - Utter Oddcast #34 (October 26, 2007)
• #5 - Utter Oddcast #36 (October 29, 2007)

OK, am I nuts for being aggravated that it’s hot this late into the year? Back in September it looked like Fall was on the way, but the past few weeks have been nothing but 80’s and even 90’s, as is the forecast for the next few days…

…and I think the oddest thing is that I was outside last night sitting on my deck, in shorts and a t-shirt, getting “eaten”by mosquitoes. What’s up with that? Aren’t mosquitoes supposed to be dead by now?

But my complaint isn’t so much the fact of the warmth, or even getting eaten by mosquitoes, but the fact that we’re probably going to miss out on the normal Fall weather and that the changing leaves aren’t going to be quite as spectacular.

For those of you unfamiliar with Indianapolis weather, our average high on October 1st is 71° and the average low is 49°. On October 31st the average high is 58° and the average low is 38°. So the temperatures drop quite rapidly and you usually only have a few weeks of the really nice mid-60 degree weather that I really cherish. And right now our lows are around are average highs.

So I’m hoping that next week brings more normal temperatures and that we still get our Fall weather, just pushed back a week or two. Because it’d really be nice to take the kids Trick-or-Treating without needing to wear jackets for costumes.

Ah, Fall is in the air…

The 2007 Indiana State Fair is over, the kids are in school, football season is under way, my garden will have soon produced its last “fruits”, I’ve already been apple picking (twice), the stores are clearing out the “back to school” and any remaining summer items to make way for Halloween candy, costumes and decorations, and best of all, after a seemingly long hot streak of 90+ degree days, the weather is starting to get back to normal…

While it only lasts for a very brief 6 weeks or so, I love Fall in Indiana and look forward to it with anticipation every year. Due to the hot weather the leaves probably won’t be as vibrant this year, but they should still put on a show. (If you’ve never been to Indiana in October, I encourage you to do so…especially Southern Indiana where we have a ton of trees.)

And while I’m thinking about Fall, we’re currently planning our October shows for Utter Oddcast & the Trolley Dodgers Podcast and we will need your input and help in the coming weeks for stories and such, especially for our themed Halloween podcast(s). Feel free to send items our way. And also, please check out both shows this month. We released a new Trolley Dodgers episode yesterday and will release one more episode this month. And we have a total of nine (yes, you read that right…9!!!) Utter Oddcast episodes that will be release in September (as of today, three are currently available and the other six will be released over the remainder of the month). And please leave us feedback via comment, e-mail form (td, uo) or voicemail at 317-565-4250.  I’ll post more info about that within a few weeks.

For those of you wondering how long an uncarved pumpkin will last outside in Indiana, somewhere around Christmas is the “deflate date” given the sort of weather that we’ve had this year. (If temperatures were close to normal, that might be a little longer, as long as it’s not too cold.)

And to answer the “Why did you still have uncarved pumpkins outside at Christmastime?” question…

Short answer: Procrastination that lead to my “creative” oddness (which I don’t think anyone else was into)…and more procrastination.

Longer answer: I never got around to carving the pumpkins at Halloween this year and thought they made nice Thanksgiving decorations. I was certain that they’d be mush or some neighborhoodlums would have done something to them by Thanksgiving, but that didn’t happen. So while sitting out the Christmas decorations I thought, maybe I could carve them for Christmas (like luminaries). And of course, that didn’t take place either.

With some nudging I threw them away this morning, which was a good thing as they started to *finally* become a little mushy. But now that the idea has came and past, maybe others can run with it next year and let the new “red, green & orange” Christmas tradition take on a life of its own.