sinkingliner

Fall.

Man how I hated  that time of year as a kid. I didn’t care about the leaves turning colors, I just knew it was back to school time, which, for me, was the worst thing.

But over time, I’ve learned to forgive Fall and see it for what it is. Maybe my favorite season.

Summer is great, sunshine, vacation, shorts. But, eventually it gets too hot for me – the humidity dragging me down, killing my hair (do you feel me?), making me wilt till I return to the cool confines of air conditioning. The older I get the crankier the heat and humidity makes me.

Spring is nice, when a young man’s fancy turns lightly to love (need I mention again that I’m getting older?). A wonderful time of year, flowers in bloom, a hint of warmth in the air. But, usually, here in the Midwest, it takes Spring forever to actually arrive. There’s the old line about April showers and May flowers, but its tends to be April and May showers bring some cold weather in early June – then WHAM – it’s 95 degrees with 90 percent humidity. So much for Spring.

I won’t waste your time complaining about Winter.

Which leads me to proclaim Fall as my new favorite season.

Fall, like Scotch, has become an acquired taste for me. I’ve learned to forget about the awful things Fall meant, back to school – stuck in a classroom battling it out with A.D.D (self-diagnosed) and wishing the teachers would quit droning on and on. The leaves on the trees were dying, winter was coming, days were getting shorter. I forgive you Fall.

Now I can see Fall for what it is – wonderful temperate weather (Hoodie and shorts – my favorite attire), the leaves changing colors, the sunsets taking on different hues. It’s also Halloween time (but this whole Zombie craze creeps me out) which brings back fond memories. I remember the costumes my daughter wore and how I’d end up eating most of her candy (sorry kid).

There were some fond times I recall from Fall and Halloween time as a kid – mostly things I would never participate in – soaping windows, tossing rotten tomatoes from gardens at cars. There were a lot of pick up football games that I’m sure lead to a few concussions (A. Which would explain a lot of things and B. Who knew about concussions back then?).

Maybe I really liked Fall all along and just didn’t realize it. Maybe it was me that changed over the course of  years and not the season.

Well, it will be Winter here soon enough and I’m sure I will have plenty to complain about.

Until then I’ll enjoy Fall.