The 1965 Byrds’ hit song “Turn, Turn, Turn” pops into my mind
this time of year as I ponder the significance of the changing seasons. I was a wee lad, mind you, when that song was on the radio! But unless
you live someplace like Florida
which has basically two seasons (beautiful for seven or eight months and
oppressive humidity the rest of the year), you get to enjoy the four seasons. I
use the term ‘enjoy’ loosely, since I do not enjoy winter all that much. A
little snow around Christmas is nice. A blizzard creating whiteouts on a
10-degree Valentine’s Day is not my cup of tea, though that is exactly what we
had here this past February. I completely understand why the “snow birds” flee Ohio for warmer climes as
winter approaches!
I enjoy the promise of new life, better weather and warmer
days and sunshine that spring brings. The grass turns green, and I get to begin
my mowing year. I like mowing the lawn. I’m funny like that.
Summer has already been covered in a previous blog entry, so
I’ll let you go look that one up on your own. It is here somewhere.
That brings us to our current season, fall. OK, autumn for
those of you that insist on the correct vernacular. You probably call the first
day of fall the autumnal solstice, don’t you?
I enjoy fall. First off, college football is in full swing.
I do not watch pro football except for the Super Bowl. However, I LOVE college
football. I always have. I try to attend at least one college game each year.
This year the wife and I saw the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears come from
behind to defeat the Heidelberg University Whatchamacallits.by a 34-20 score.
ONU’s marching band was very good, and we even went to the field house
afterwards to see the band perform a concert (it was homecoming weekend).
Usually we go to Bowling Green
State University
My wife and I enjoy taking walks and viewing the colorful
foliage this time of year. The air is turning just a little more crisp, with temperatures 10 or
so degrees lower than they were just a month prior. Each day, the colors become more noticeable
as the trees change into their party clothes before they do their slow striptease.
Once in a great while, the weather conditions all year conspire to produce extraordinarily
gorgeous colors. The jury is still out for this year, though the weirdly wet
summer followed by a warm, dry fall do not bode well. Still, every year we get
to enjoy some great fall colors in the yards of folks who were wise enough to
select their particular trees based on how they change as summer fades away.
Halloween is another big draw for fall lovers. I hate to
tell you this, kids – Halloween ain’t what it used to be. We took our costumes
to school and changed into them for a Halloween party in the afternoon. Yeah,
yeah – now you have parades! Big deal! We might make a jack-o’-lantern a couple
of days before Halloween, and it was always lit with a candle, fire safety be
damned. Now pumpkins are illuminated with LED lights for Pete’s sake, whoever
Pete is. When I was your age, most people gave us nickel candy bars, homemade
popcorn balls and other goodies. Now you get a tiny bite-sized candy bar,
because most folks cannot afford to pass out 85-cent candy bars that are the
modern day equivalent of those nickel bars of olden days. Sorry about your
luck, kid!
What makes me feel a bit melancholy this time of year is
that the days are gradually, but noticeably, growing shorter. It is as if
nature heaves a sigh and declares that all of this spring and summer stuff has
just kind of worn thin. It is dark as I get up each morning, and darkness falls
around 7:30 PM nowadays. Winter is
coming, the days will continue to grow shorter, and there is nothing we can do
to prevent it. Turn, turn, turn.
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