October has entered the chat. The air gets cooler. The days get shorter. Football gets louder. Soup is officially a meal again. And somewhere in Chattanooga, someone has turned on their heat in the morning and their air conditioning by dinner. Welcome to fall in Tennessee.

Everyone says this is the season to slow down. I love that idea. I really do. I am also Hurricane Harple, so let’s manage our expectations. Maybe we don’t actually need to slow down. Maybe we just need to come a little closer. Closer to home. Closer around the table. Closer to our neighbors. Closer to the people we keep saying we need to call, meet for coffee, invite over or spend more time with.

As I looked through the stories in this month’s issue, I realized that feeling is everywhere. We are pulling up a chair for the final Mahjong event and celebrating Carol, our philanthropic queen of metro Chattanooga, who has shown us that gathering people can also mean giving back. We are meeting local artist Nick and the person behind the art. We step Behind the Business with Jamie of Bud Floral, celebrate the Sommers cats in Precious Pets, and get dressed up for a beautiful evening at the Chattanooga Ball. At home, we are asking, Before You Turn Up the Heat, because those chilly Chattanooga nights are coming. Eventually. Probably. We are bringing local businesses and people together through Build Your Brand, and Johnna Tate is officially declaring it soup season with her Lasagna Soup. And at the heart of it all, we are introducing you to the Bucken family, our October Feature Family, and doing what Stroll does best: getting to know the people behind the doors we pass every day.

Different stories. Different people. Different reasons to gather. But somehow, they all lead us back to the same place: each other. That is Stroll. Yes, there are beautiful homes here. Beautiful streets. Beautiful events. But the magic has never been the zip code. It’s the people. So this month, invite someone to stay for another glass of wine. Sit at the table ten minutes longer. Walk over instead of waving from the driveway. Try the recipe. Meet the neighbor. Support the local business. Go to the thing. Take the picture, absolutely. Then put the phone down and live the part that never makes it to the camera roll.

October will go fast. It always does. So maybe we don’t need to slow it all down. Maybe we just need to make sure we are spending it with the right people. Come a little closer, Riverview. This is the good stuff.

See you around the neighborhood,

Kelly Harple
Publisher, Stroll Riverview