The Features of my Fall

Usually by now, I have nearly all but completed my Christmas shopping. This year, I can't even look forward to a time when I THINK it is in the remotest possibility to begin shopping. I'm still praying for a Christmas miracle.

This lack of time to get ready for Christmas has forced me to enjoy the fall as a whole season. While I don't have the pumpkins and mums on my front step and the scarecrow and the hay bale in my front yard, I do have leaves on my table and the few small trinkets I have managed to save over the years that are indicative of the fall season.

The one thing that I have done is to take more time with my kids. Thus the annual leaf raking party. There is a scene in It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown in which Linus charges into Charlie Brown's fresh pile of leaves. My kids love to replicate that. We have leaf fights. And do flips into the leaves. Here, Erin is making "leaf angels".

I also love the fall festivals. I remember going to fall festivals when I was a kid. We actually bobbed for apples..with our mouths..in the same barrell of apples and water. There was no such thing as hanisizer, as Erin calls GERM-EX. It was my first taste of candied apples. It was the first time I met Dracula, Spider Man and Darth Vader--yes they were alive back then too! This year we went to a Halloween Party in Ohatchee. The party was for the children, and it was neat. I was probably the only adult NOT in a costume. There was a marshmellow roast, chili dogs, hay rides and a haunted treasure hunt where the kids hunted for candy with their flashlights. Erin's neighbor, friend and classmate, Savannah was there, and another little boy from her class. They had so much fun! I had fun just watching them and roasting "meshmellows" with them, as Meghan calls them.

Nowadays, kids don't Trick-or-Treat. In Ohatchee the City puts on a Trunk or Treat. This is a noble idea, and we participate when we can, but kids (and adults) today miss the whole idea of Trick-or-Treating. The sparkle in their eyes as they wait for the surprise that they will receive and then going through all the loot when they get home and comparing treats. There are still some communities that keep this time-honored tradition, and maybe we will get to visit them next year.

The final feature of my fall is the Lincoln - Munford football rivalry. This year was the first year that Lincoln beat Munford mercilessly, and Munford never made it to the scoreboard. Usually, the game is a little closer. It's kind of like the Alabama - Auburn game. No matter the season, both teams bring their best games. Every one comes out for it. I usually sit with my old high school boyfriend and his family. The girls reminded me that I had not taken them to a ballgame this year, so we loaded up the wagon and went down. It was a perfect night for football.

Now that it is November, I am reminded that we have yet to watch Happy Thanksgiving Charlie Brown!