Fall Is In the Air

Brr! I awoke to a lovely, sunny, chilly morning. I went to the Acme to get my paycheck in a heavy sweater and t-shirt, but switched to my light winter coat after I got home because it was just that cold. It was still windy, too, and the air had that great wood-burning scent it gets in the fall and winter. I went right back out again after putting away whole wheat flour, yogurt, small beef round steaks, ground chicken, and granola bars.

After everything was where it belonged, I went right back out again. My first stop was the PNC Bank branch on the White Horse Pike down the street from me. On my way up the hill on West Clinton Avenue, I scraped the back of my foot on my heavy metal bike pedal. When I made it across the street, I put my foot on a low ledge and checked it. It had bled through the sock, but I wear cuffed socks and the small spot didn't show. I slapped a band aid on it. I always carry band aids in my purse for occasions like this.

The bank was looking especially festive today. The tellers celebrated the Phillies' win with a huge cake and Philadelphia soft pretzels. I had a slice of cake and a pretzel while one of the tellers deposited my money.

My next stop was the Collingswood PATCO Station. I hopped a westbound train and got off at the 8th Street Gallery Mall stop. The Gallery Mall is the huge, blocks-spanning mall on Market Street in Center City Philadelphia. I mean, this place is so big, the train stops under it! I browsed a few stores before deciding to avoid the lunch crowd and head outside.

It really was a beautiful day. It was slightly warmer in Phildelphia, but still windy, and even in the city there was that spicy wood-burning smell. I made a brief stop at Burlington Coat Factory to avoid the spiel of an obnoxious evangelist blabbering about the Ten Commandments on the sidewalk to anyone who would (or wouldn't) listen. I usually love the Burlington Coat Factory (especially their great collection of hats and purses), but I couldn't find anything I liked. Nothing seemed right. The purses were too chunky. The hats were too fancy. The low-cut, flared jeans were impractical for bike riding. The bright, empire-waisted blouses looked ridiculous and flimsy. The big buttons on the coats would have made me look huge. God, how I HATE fashion.

A trip to Reading Terminal Market made me feel much better. Reading Terminal Market is Philadelphia's huge version of the Collingswood Farm Market, a massive old building filled with everything from produce stalls to lunch counters to gift booths selling leather and knit goods and jewelry. It was quarter of 2 by the time I got there, and amazingly busy. Some counters were packed two deep. Everything seemed to mingle - girls in uniforms meant to represent the Pennsylvania Dutch next to girls in tight t-shirts hawking cookies. Executives eating at the seafood counter next to janitors and news vendors. I wound up having fish cakes and a soda at the Pearl's Oyster Bar counter next to the 12th street entrance. I also bought a sugar cookie from the bakery across from Pearl's. The fish cakes were supposed to be a sandwich, but no one had bothered cutting the fish cakes, only the bread, so I just ate the cakes, the tomatoes, and a few slices of bread instead. The sugar cookie was really good, a little lemony and not too sweet.

I made my way down Market Street, through City Hall and down to the big FYE on Broad Street. I finally picked up Warner Bros' new Classic Christmas Collection, a set featuring all of their major holiday specials (including three Rankin-Bass specials never seen on DVD before) there. I didn't get anything at the Borders across the street, but I did pick up two records (instrumental recordings of Sigmund Romberg operetta songs and a Johnny Mathis LP) and two children's books (a vintage Strawberry Shortcake kid's cookbook and the American Girls book Addy's Surprise) from Russkof's Used Books and Records, the wonderful used book store on 10th Street.

(I love Washington Square. Bordered by the Jefferson Hospital and Medical College, it has the slightly seedy/genteel feel of Cape May in my youth. The area is mostly bars, small stores like Russkof's, coffee bars for the medical students, and for some reason, lots of small hardware stores. The buildings are, except for some obviously new hospital buildings, a little shabby but not so run-down you feel like you're gonna be killed any second. I imagine it's worse during the night, but during the day, it's really cool.)

I got on the PATCO stop around the corner from Russkof's with no problem. It was about 5:30 by then, and the train was only slightly full when I went home. (I definately wanted to avoid the 6PM rush.)

Oh, and a major word of warning about that Classic Christmas Collection set - boy, did Warner Bros make a mess of that. The disc that's supposed to hold the "Deluxe Edition" of the original animated Year Without a Santa Claus seems to hold the live-action TV movie released last year instead. That's not a big deal for me. I do have the animated Year Without on DVD, but wanted the other specials and to replace my video copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. However, everything on the case indicates the animated version (including the cover art), and people who bought this hoping for the original will be very disappointed. I seem to remember hearing that Little Drummer Boy, Book II was supposed to be on here, but I don't see it.