Merlino & Gonzalez - September 2020

GARDENING, GOLD, AND PHOTO SHOOTS

3 Fun Family Activities for Fall

It’s fall, which means social media will soon be saturated with pictures of your friends enjoying “classic” fall activities. Photos of leaf peeping, apple picking, and the occasional scarecrow run rampant. But rather than following the herd, you can make your family the trendsetter of unique fall activities! Here are a few outdoor endeavors your family will love. Get gardening Fall is the time for harvest, but if you want to enjoy flowers in the spring, it’s also a time for planting. The cooler autumn air is easier on plants, but the soil is still warm enough for roots to grow before the ground freezes for winter. Tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths are all spring bulbs that need to be planted in the fall. Do a little research with your family to determine the best time to start planting in your area. Pan for gold Here’s one that’s really off the beaten path: Take your family on an adventure panning for gold! Start by planning a road trip out to an old ghost town. Many of them have great tourist attractions that include gold panning. You probably won’t get rich, but it will still be a fun

story. If you’re not able to make the trip, you can always create a gold panning operation at home! Visit MessForLess.net/panning-for-gold- activity for a great step-by-step guide on how to go panning for gold in your own backyard. Plan a fall photo shoot It’s time to freshen up those family pictures hanging around the house. The changing leaves provide a beautiful background for any family portrait. Better yet, the cooler temperatures mean that an outdoor photo shoot won’t be nearly as uncomfortable as it would be in the summer. You can take your pictures by the trees in the front yard or make a daytrip of it. What about pictures at the corn maze or pumpkin patch? It’s never too soon to start planning this year’s holiday card.

Spend this fall outdoors and create great new memories with your family!

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE 21ST NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER? 4 Decades of Earth, Wind & Fire’s ‘September’

“Do you remember the 21st night of September?”

“ba-dee-ya,” which White included in the chorus. Throughout the songwriting process, Willis begged to change the phrase to real words. At the final vocal session, Willis finally demanded to know what ba‑dee-ya meant. White replied, “Who cares?”

In 1978, Maurice White of the band Earth, Wind & Fire first asked this question in the song “September,” a funky disco song

that quickly topped the charts. While disco may be dead today, “September” certainly isn’t. The song is still featured in movies, TV shows, and wedding playlists. On Sept. 21, 2019, the funk hit was streamed over 2.5 million times. It’s no wonder that the Los Angeles City Council declared Sept. 21 Earth, Wind & Fire Day.

“I learned my greatest lesson ever in songwriting from him,” Willis recalled in a 2014 interview with NPR, “which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove.” The groove is why “September” has stood the test of time, right from that very first lyric. For decades, people have asked Willis and members of the band about the significance of Sept. 21. As it turns out, there isn’t much beyond the sound.

The story behind “September” is almost as enduring as the song itself. It was co-written by White and Allee Willis, who eventually became a Grammy-winning songwriter and Tony nominee. But before any of that, Willis was a struggling songwriter in Los Angeles living off food stamps. When White reached out and asked Willis to help write the next Earth, Wind & Fire hit, it was truly her big break.

“We went through all the dates: ‘Do you remember the first, the second, the third, the fourth …’ and the one that just

felt the best was the 21st,” Willis explained.

The truth is that nothing happened on the 21st night of September — except a whole lot of dancing.

White and Willis proved to be excellent songwriting partners, but they clashed over one key element of the song: the nonsensical phrase

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