I really enjoyed fall this year. All 48 hours of it.
Last week my son played in a football game. A showdown between Russell and Millard North Middle. It was so hot. And windy too. Like sitting in a sauna with a fan blowing on you. Not that I have any experience with such things. At the ended of the game all the kids were still chasing each other, but most of them were walking. A mom was drinking a pumpkin spice iced tea instead of a pumpkin spice latte. All the seats in the middle of the field were empty because the parents were standing under the trees in the shade near the end zone.
Today is a different story. It is raining. It is windy. It is cold. So cold I actually saw a middle school boy wearing pants instead of the mandatory shorts. So cold the pet store was selling penguins. Cold enough to turn the heater on and you get what is the best smell and the worst smell of the year: The I just turned the heater on for the first time and it smells amazing but it also means winter is here. Until like May.
It looks like summer outside. And it is going to for quite sometime. It’s mid-October in Omaha and the grass is greener than the manicured fairways at Augusta National in April. I just fertilized my yard last weekend. I had to. Weeds were growing like it was summer. It was ninety degrees out. I’ll be frying a turkey on Thanksgiving (that is how Jesus preferred his turkeys, you know) and the grass will still be green. I’ll be mowing in my Uggs, parka, and stocking hat deep into December. The seven feet of rain we have recieved this month plus the bag of Scott’s Weed and Feed means it will be a green Christmas on Emiline Street.
The best part about fall is walking through the leaves and not picking up your feet. It is the best sound and smell ever. The problem with our fall consisting of two days this year is that 100% of the leaves on still on the trees. They look so healthy. When the leaves eventually fall they will either be 1) covered in ice and drop with the velocity of an acorn or 2) the leaves will freeze, because it will be like twenty below zero, and walking though the frozen leaves will be like walking through peanut brittle.
They were two great days though. The cool mornings were replaced by the warm afternoons. The air smelled so fresh. It was a celebration that summer made her last stand and was finally defeated. Humidity will be gone for nine months and none of us will miss her. The campfire at night. That blessed smoke. I never eat marshmallows or chocolate bars or graham crackers on their own, but they are quite splendid together.
If we look hard enough, something or someone always exists to be thankful for. The opposite of grateful is twofold: 1. Being envious / jealous and 2. Taking things or people for granted. The choice is easy. Be grateful. Be grateful to others and be grateful to God.
