Did I detect a whiff of fall in the air this morning?

The air carried the faintest whiff of fall this morning, and that gives me hope.

I love this time of year. Yes, it’s hotter than the devil’s left nut. You could literally fry an egg on an asphalt road, and you practically need gills to breathe because the humidity is right up there with the temperature.

BUT … and this is an all-caps “but” as you’ve noticed … the end is nigh. The days are growing shorter. I expect any morning to see a yellow leaf on the fig tree, which is my canary in the coal mine for autumn. The fig tree is always the first to shed its leaves. There’s talk of football in the air. I’m already itching to deploy the Halloween decorations.

One more reason to celebrate this time of year. I don’t have cancer.

Two weeks ago I was at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville having my prostate removed. It has been an experience. But, the good news is, they got it all. Now I face the long haul of regaining my continence – small price to pay for remaining on this side of the dirt.

It’s still dark when I leave for my morning walk. I love that. When winter sinks its fangs into the Florida Panhandle I’ll be griping about the cold and wishing it was warm again. Oh well. I’ve been doing that the past 50 years.

It’s good to know I’ll be doing it for a few more.

Oh, and by the way … yes, that is an AI-generated image associated with this blog entry. I know. I’ll roast in hell for using AI to illustrate my blogs. It’s just not financially realistic for me to hire an artist and pay them $300 per image for what could be a daily blog entry.

Sorry.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .