Fall

I love fall.

I don't love raking leaves - but I love it when they are done.   Actually, it's a pretty mindless task and if I had more time on my hands, I think I could even love doing leaves.  I love the colors of fall, the weather changing, the end of daylight savings time, Thanksgiving food, and the promise of Christmas right around the corner.  I especially love the vacation days, family time, and snow.  I love it once my house is decorated for the change of seasons (which generally doesn't happen as soon as I would like), and the smells of the holidays.  Pumpkin and cinnamon, for example, are especially nice smells together. 

Indian summer in the fall is good, too.  Surprise days of 70-80 degrees make me want to go outside because I can (that sounds like a Bill Clinton thing to say, but it's true).

I realize in the fall that I have some beautiful sweaters, and I have missed them during the spring and summer months.  But to be honest, I hate shoes.  That's probably the worst part of fall and winter - having to wear shoes instead of sandals.  Makes my feet hurt just to think about it.  And I'm not crazy about heavy coats either.  Lucky I have a garage that I can just hop in my car, drive to work, hop out, and it's a quick stint into the building - so generally, no heavy coat needed on a daily basis.

I wish I liked football, but I don't.  Almost everybody I know loves football season for one reason or another, but I just never understood why grown men would want to run up and down a field, bang into each other over a silly ball.  I feel the same way about golf.  Tennis makes sense to me; even soccer - both of those sports require personal control skills with an opponent - and the object of the game is not to hurt somebody - as in the case of football; or to spend hours hitting a tiny little ball all the way over there and get it to fall in that little hole that you can't even see from where you are standing - which is why they have to put a flag on a stick to show you where you are shooting for.  Dumb.

But I do love the sound of my dad, brother and my nephews watching football while I am usually in the kitchen (used to be with my mom) making some yummy snacks and hors d'oeuvres for the guys - and planning dinner or the next family gathering, discussing what we're going to do for Christmas.  That is my recollection of football enjoyment, and I do miss it.  Go to a game?  Not if I don't have to.

This year, fall is different than it has been in the past.  Maybe it will be the same, but certainty no longer exists in my family's world.  Freddy and Nancy have been hosting Thanksgiving the last several years - we've gotten into a really good groove going to their house for the day with Tres, Tim, Anne and the kids, but this year - the plan is in place but Freddy's situation has been a huge obstacle this year and ... who knows what will happen.  Same thing for Christmas.

One thing is for sure:  Change is what fall brings.  The change of seasons, colors, family comings and goings - which all seems to have more meaning this year than in year's past.  As much as I like change, I like familiarity better.