BLAQUE/OUT Magazine Nov '22 #0026

THE FINAL STRETCH BY IMMANI LOVE It’s finally here!

The Final Stretch of the year! Now I know what some of you may be thinking…” But Immani, it’s only November!” Yes, I know, but there’s something you may not realize or for whatever reasons, may not acknowledge.

November is the beginning of the end. The end of hurricane season for us Floridians, the last days of Autumn, the last month of layaway shopping for the holidays, and unfortunately, the end of rational thinking for most of us.

Although October “officially” (if that’s such a thing) marks the beginning of “cuffing season,” it’s November when it’s in full swing and likely to be one of your primary points of focus for the next few months and where the lapses in judgement prevail. I’m no expert…anymore, (*refers back to her “Ask Dr. Love” column and chuckles) but it has come to my attention that during these months as the leaves turn colors in some places, and the trees shed their skin preparing to suffer the brutality of winter in preparation of being reborn as vibrant breath givers in the spring, we as humans gravitate to other beings in search of shelter from the cold. We seek warm hugs, long embraces, deep conversations, and hot sex, not necessarily in that order.

As such, this is typically where all sense of logic goes out of the proverbial window, and we become pawns to our emotions and succumb to pure lust.

Don’t worry lovers, thankfully it is in most cases, a case of temporary insanity and in the eyes of the average passerby, looks perfectly normal. No one notices how you’ve started to finish each other’s sentences or how quickly you text back when they message you. No one pays attention to the fact that you are suddenly unavailable for the previously scheduled weekly session of “what are we wearing to the happy hour that never ends” and are for some reason too “busy” for the unfortunate soul who didn’t quite luck out in the “cuffing season lottery.”

(I mean after all those tickets were scarce and very expensive!) You seem perfectly sane when purchasing matching pajamas (or even worse, onesies,) for you and your “Boo,” “Baby,” or “Bae” depending on what part of the country you reside. No one will even blink an eye when you change your profile pic to one of you and your aforementioned, holding hands, while wearing said ensemble, clutching your pet who of course has been wrestled into its own color coordinated costume to match.