Listicle Oct. 12, 2025

Was out squeezing the last bit of summer out of autumn last month. Time to catch up.

Maple and me in the Pine Barrens of NJ last weekend. Beautiful morning. Credit: A O'Brien

1. Fave It's About Damn Time: Happy to announce the publication of a SF short story of mine recently. It was a lot of fun of write, hopefully a lot of fun for others to read: "Tanked". Free over at Amazing Stories.

   
   

   

   They just went on and on and on. Credit: A O'Brien

2. Fave Surprise: a field of sunflowers. In September, a local dairy farm surprised everyone and planted several acres of sunflowers. When they bloomed, it was glorious -- fields of yellow extending to the ridgeline. I was lucky enough to drive by frequently. Often, folks pulled off the road and snapped some pics. And, because they don't last forever, it was a bit of ephemera. Knowing they wouldn't last forever made them that much more special.

   

   I mean, really. Just lovely. This is dusk, the Catoctin Mts. in the back. Credit: A O'Brien

3. Fave spooky season hobbies: zombie stories and monster movies. I am determined not to let Spooky Season pass me by. Last night, I watched The Creature from the Black Lagoon and this morning, finished reading a new zombie novel, One Yellow Eye by Leigh Radford. Still, my fave zombie read remains The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey. Haven't watched the 2016 film yet. Maybe this evening. (Pro tip: Sunday morning zombie reading pairs well with a homemade pumpkin spiced latte.)

   

   Credit: Wikipedia

4. Fave new word: concatenation. Definition: a series of interconnected things or events. Typically applied to computer programming. I came across it in a study summary for biological observations, an interesting way of representing data I'd never seen before. Anyway. Got me pondering.

   
   

5. Fave random gourds: spontaneous pumpkins from the compost! I was wandering around in our compost pile a few weeks ago as one does, keeping an eye on some volunteer vines that had popped up from last year's pumpkins. We have lots of deer around here and typically nothing survives outside of protective fencing. And yet. I suppose this time there were more than enough gourds for everyone because I came back with a wheelbarrow-full of mini pumpkins, gourds, and two full-size pumpkins all from last year. My cup overfloweth.

   

   Just a mere sampling of the festive gourd season that is going on around here. Credit: A O'Brien