The air of fall is toying with us right now. Although not official until Sept. 22, we have been treated to some cool overnights, tolerable days and evenings already.
The first day of fall occurs at Autumn’s Equinox. There are two moments in the year when the sun is exactly above the Equator and day and night are of equal length. The other is the Spring Equinox, but in each there are 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of night. How that is measured is determined by humans either much smarter than me or with too much time on their hands.
Equinox is not to be confused with Solstice. Summer Solstice is the June day when the sun lights the northern hemisphere (that’s us) for the longest amount of time of the year. Winter Solstice in December is the shortest sunlight day of the year.
Back to fall. It is more than a season. It is a feeling, and like falling in love, it starts gradually with hints of cooling weather before moving fully into falling leaves, just as love blossoms to constantly thinking of another’s presence.
The baseball boys (and girls) of summer move towards championships or resolve to watch teams with better records. The Major Leagues culminate later in the World Series where magic can happen and heroes can emerge. Who can forget “Mr. October” Reggie Jackson or some of the more memorable team wins, come from behind wins, or exciting back and forth series. All happening in late fall. There is nothing like basking in the day game sun or watching players deal with the long shadows sometimes having the pitcher in sunlight and batter in the shadow of the stands.
In high school’s all around the country young “men to be” dress out in pads and take to the gridiron every Friday night while parents and kin either assemble for tailgating or file into the aluminum stands to hope their kid gets to take the field. The announcer’s voice echos from the bullhorn type speakers every first down and touchdown scored to cheers from supporters.
On any given Saturday, rabidly loyal college football fans definitely travel and tailgate for their favorite team or gather around a big screen TV. I still wish radio broadcasts could coordinate with TV broadcasting so I could watch the same thing the radio folks are describing at the same time. The smell of ribs, sausages and other favorite grill delights waft across campus after campus at schools from North to South. Conference play used to mean more than today but it appears the size of the S.E.C. will soon consume and become the major league of college football. But that will be OK and work itself out.
To those who are fans, NASCAR enters into its “championship” section of races using a point system designed by Satan (or my college statistics professor). Racing at famed tracks where instead of having a winner after 250 miles, we celebrate winners of stages of the same race without understanding what a stage win means.
Thank God we are now able to enjoy these sports without the nonsense of people kneeling during the National Anthem or some other method of ruining the sporting event with some exhibit designed to protest imagined oppression, created racial strife or otherwise designed to polarize and divide Americans. Heck, they even sing the national anthem in a fashion somewhat resembling the version I grew up with.
Outside of sporting events, average everyday life starts to reflect a change of season. That pile of limbs gathered all summer will be set afire while the pleasant smell of the campfire wafts through the air to combine with that of morning coffee on a back deck. That old sweater will be pulled from the back of the closet to warm in early morning and late evening. Prayerfully, the constant running of the A/C unit will slow down and the power bill drop accordingly.
Those who maintain beautiful lawns have to admit they welcome the slowing growth and eventual browning out as grass becomes dormant. Saturday time spent mowing can be recovered for other gardening.
It is also time for fall bazaars, fall fairs and wrap up with many different Halloween events.
There are downsides such as raking leaves and raking leaves and blowing leaves. The loss of foliage may even make that neighbor and their home visible again which may be a good thing or a bit undesirable, depending on your obedience to the command “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Fall is a great time of year. Breathe it in, breathe it deeply, feel the cool air in morning and evening. God has brought us on a trip around the sun once again. Seize the day and enjoy the season.
