Anticipating Fall
MONTICELLO, Ark. - If it only felt like fall.
School's back in session, accompanied by endless lines at your local Wally-World filled with drop-jawed parents debating "gas, groceries or school supplies?" My soon-to-be 14-year-old stepson makes the jump from a Montessori school (K-8, enrollment approx. 80) to Little Rock Central (9-12, enrollment approx. 2,100). So far, it's been a good adjustment. I hope it remains so.
The football season kicks into gear, I mean kicked into gear. Though most of Arkansas anticipates the Razorbacks facing the USC Trojans, I enjoyed the Boll Weevils taking the Southern Arkansas Muleriders to the wire before succumbing last weekend. The team sports a little fight this fall, and as they say, "There ain't nothin' more evil than a damned Boll Weevil."
This fall I swear I won't play Fantasy Football, becoming a statistic in the countless wasted hours debating who I need to trade and who needs to start. I won the whole league last year in my first (and only) season after starting 1-4 and e-mailing the gurus to see if I should quit ...
... then I picked up Larry Johnson two weeks before Priest Holmes went down. The rest, they say, is history.
Nope, no Fantasy Football. Only the real things: SEC and GSC ball. Most of you realize SEC is not the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the Southeastern Conference. A few of you may know the GSC is the Gulf South Conference. Guess which one gets the press?
It's like the gubernatorial race this fall. The media gives air-time to the Democrats and Republicans, but apparently forgets both an Independent and Green made the ballot, too. South Arkansans, bless their hearts, won't even get to see a debate between the traditional candidates as that privilege has been saved for Northwest, Central and Northeast Arkansas. Ya know, the places making money and progressing (sometimes in very regressive ways). I guess the powers that be watch a lot of SEC football, but seldom make it to a GSC game.
I like to get out away from it all during the fall.
Cascading leaves of red, gold and orange fill the hills of my home state while the smells of awakened fireplaces tickle my nostrils. I love camping during this time of year because few other people camp. I hate people near tent campgrounds running generators all night to keep their camper warm. Go home.
I love frost in the morning. I love crisp air that takes your first breath outside. I love sweater weather and all that implies.
So, I'm looking forward to fall. After all, it's only 75 degrees at 8 p.m. after the rain kept us to a high of 85. That's not bad for an Arkansas August that saw steady temperatures above 100.
While it may seem like fall, it sure doesn't feel like fall.
