It was another wacky weather week in NEPA.

One day I’d have my heat on in the car and a day or two later I’d have the air conditioning blasting. Of course, I preferred the air any day.

There is one thing I do know, the color of the tree foliage has been absolutely spectacular and when you have a cloudless blue sky, there is nothing better.

I know each fall for the past 20 years I’ve been writing this column, I remark on autumn and at times, I refer to the changing of the leafs as God’s palette.

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While on a drive, I literally don’t know where to look first, and if I’m doing a mountain drive, I crane my neck so often I get dizzy.

One regret each year is, I never get to take my professional camera out to photo the splendor of season. Part of the problem is, I never know where to go to get that optimum shot, but truthfully, anywhere I go, I can get a great shot.

The other day when the sky was perfectly blue, I was getting in my car and saw a few trees in the distance that had turned all yellow. That color against the sunny blue sky was spectacular.

When I’m on the road while foliage is in full swing, I often wonder what it would be like if the brilliant colors of the trees would be if they were like that all year round.

You know, sometimes you just have to enjoy the simple things in life and when nature is giving you the best free show during the year, you have to take advantage if it.

Speaking of taking advantage, I did an article on Erin Dugan Jurchak, of Exeter, this week.

Erin is such a nice person and I’ve known her for a few years. I first saw here while we worked in the trenches shooting football games, her for FOX-56 and me for the Times Leader or Sunday Dispatch.

Like everyone else, Erin was in search of something to do during the pandemic. She turned to her cellphone and decided to give TikTok a try to see what it was like. Before she knew it, she was thinking of content to post and six-months later, she has nearly 280,000 followers.

She loves make up and is the daughter of a cosmetologist and working in the field of TV, she had to do her own hair and make up for shoots.

Erin combined her talent in TV with her talent in make up and started to do beauty tip content.

Her posts have caught on fire and her 15 minutes of fame just might turn into a full-fledged career as she gains more followers.

Unlike the app Instagram and more like YouTube, you can actually earn a living posting to TikTok and the more views you have, the more money you can make.

She’s even gained the attention of many make up companies, and she told me a lot of them are sending her their products so she could use them in her videos she posts. They get a plug and a likely endorsement from Erin in return for her using the product.

She said she will only use products if she believes in the company and would use them normally.

That’s good policy and she will never find herself selling out just for a buck, although I’m sure that’s tempting, she won’t compromise.

Erin was floored when she received a call from The Drew Barrymore Show when they saw her 10-piece series on doing Halloween make up. I admit, they were all cute and I’m not sure where she gets her ideas from, but she is very cleaver and talented.

Even though she has her hands full with a marriage and toddler, she makes time to get her daily videos done.

When I asked her where she gets her ideas from, she opened her notes app on her phone and showed me dozens and dozens of ideas she’s come up with for future posts.

She also told me she will think of something each night as she’s in bed and will add it to her long list. When you’re in a creative zone, you really have to run with it because one day those ideas just might dry up. Erin has really taken those lemons and made a huge pitcher of lemonade.

Congrats to Erin and I hope we see her on the Barrymore Show and other shows to follow. Who knows, we just might have the new Queen of TikTok living in our community.

Election is closing in

Thank goodness the election is just a few weeks away. My mailbox cannot handle one more piece of election material.

I’m sure most of us are pretty sure which presidential candidate we will support by now and those that are undecided will have to figure it out sooner or later, but I’m not sure if the political propaganda flooding our mailboxes will make someone turn the corner.

Seeing every other political TV commercial is driving me crazy. I long for a regular ad like the Scrub Daddy or the Jolly Green Giant or how O-Cedar mops make my life easier.

With one debate left, the undecided will have one last chance to figure it out.

Quote of the week

“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” – Vincent Van Gogh

Thought of the week

“Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day.” – Shira Tamir

Bumper sticker

“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.” – Oscar Wilde