Fall…

As I sat down this week, considering what to write, watching the leaves turn and begin to fall gave me my answer. My favorite seasons are easily spring and fall. Of the two, I would choose fall (after a long winter, you’ll probably see me choose spring).

Fall is a season of change, with color leaving my flowers but showing up in the leaves. Baseball is winding down and football is starting up, windows are open instead of cranking on the A/C, and lighting that first fire of the season in the fireplace is right around the corner.

Amy and I have decided it’s probably a good idea for this to be the last year that we try to keep up with all the yard maintenance. It’s a lot of fun but also a lot of work… and it never ends. Starting next spring, we’ll be hiring a crew to handle the mowing, trimming, and a lot of the heavy lifting. To those worrying that I’ve taken a turn for the worse… stop. I’ve mentioned my left hand doesn’t work as it should, but as it’s often pointed out to me, I am now 64 and it’s time to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Above you’ll see a before and after of our yard all in one shot. Unfortunately, the after can look like the before with one gust of wind or one minor rain shower. This ritual is repeated at least twice a week from now until mid-November, so if you feel the need to rake some leaves, you know where to find them.

All those leaves are fueled by over twenty 70-foot oaks, over thirty hickories, what remains of our ash, our neighbor’s cottonwoods, and one beautiful maple. Our ash were taken by the emerald ash borer and it was heartbreaking. Some neighborhoods in our area that were built in the last 20 years were landscaped using exclusively ash and they lost every tree. Entire subdivisions are now devoid of trees where 50- footers used to stand. I’m calling the emerald ash borer the Lou Gehrig’s of trees.

Like the ash, I’ve watched a lot of new friends be taken by a disease they have no control over, and for which there is no cure or treatment. It’s not just ash we’ve lost, just like it’s not just those with ALS that we’ve lost in the last season. Oaks have been taken down just as those we may have looked up to in our childhood, all taken too soon in our eyes. Val Kilmer, George Wendt, Robert Redford, and George Foreman are but a few that come to mind that I will miss. As we’ve lost those we loved, admired, and looked up to, I feel all the more blessed to have one more fall to enjoy.

As I regress about the recent past, of course fall also brings back memories of KP, JB, and our quarterback, JM, hitting the gridiron together. Our last season together didn’t turn out as we’d hoped… JM got hurt in our first game and we failed to make the playoffs after being ranked high in the pre-season. But still, to this day, they were some of the best times of my life spent with great friends giving all we had for each other. Lessons learned then have carried me throughout my career and beyond. A special thank you goes out to all who I shared the field with, as well as all those who coached us, cheered for us, sat in the stands for us, and followed us on our journey. I hope we didn’t let you down too much. We were the boys of fall.

And as the Boss sings… those were my glory days.

To bring this week to a close, I have to share two of the best reasons to love fall…

Jameson and Rye came into our lives in the fall, one year apart. The joy and memories they carried with them live within our hearts and will never be forgotten. Diesel will not replace them, and will make his own share of memories right beside theirs.

Thanks for hanging in there with me yet again. Have a great weekend. Go enjoy the changing leaves!

God bless.

Coach