Variety is the spice of life and for me the change of seasons is one of those spices. In the Midwest we get to experience all of the good and bad that each season has to offer. Today while walking the dogs up and down an emergency access road which runs along our property line I couldn’t help but notice hints of the impending change from summer to fall.
Goldenrod was in bloom, it is a very pleasant 72 degrees under a sunny sky, geese are honking overhead flying in a traditional v formation, our big dog is chasing a never ending supply of flying grasshoppers around the easement and the sound of shotgun blasts can be heard from the Sportsman’s club less than a mile away.
The seasonal change from summer to autumn is bitter sweet for me because it means that the water ski season, my lifelong passion, is nearing its end. But, there is so much to love about fall in the Midwest; the change of colors, football, hunting, pumpkin patches, Halloween and Thanksgiving to name a few.
Football and volleyball have become our autumn sports rituals. Most of you grew up in the great state of Wisconsin where rooting for the Packers is almost a religion. I grew up in Nebraska where Cornhusker Football was the only game in town all year, pause briefly for local jeering, and also has a near religious fan base. Volleyball is the passion for our youngest child and we look forward to cheering her team on every fall.
Autumn is also a time to clean out the flower beds and begin decorating for the change in season. We tend to put up generic fall decorations at first like hay bales with assorted pumpkins and other gourds and the occasional bundle of corn stalks or multi colored Indian corn. Later frightening and/or funny Halloween decorations are added both inside and out of the home. We even decorate for the nearly forgotten holiday of Thanksgiving.
I look forward to it because it is one of the few times that the family does something together in and around the house. It does not hurt that holidays are associated with food. How can you go wrong with one holiday that features sweet treats at pumpkin patches like caramel apples and hot chocolate and apple cider, then less than 30 days later another one that features turkey, and trimmings and pie? Wow, suddenly I’m hungry.
In recent years one of my favorite reasons to look forward to autumn is the anticipation of deer camp. Note that I did not say deer hunting, just camp. That however is the subject for another day. Later!
