Fall of the Season

Now I know why it's called 'fall'.  It's the fall of summer...summer fun, vacations, and all the niceties of warm weather give way to the time of the year that's about as predictable as a Kardashian marriage.
At least that's the case here in western Pennsylvania.  It's one of those regions of the country where kids wait at the bus stop in mukluks, yet pack the flip-flops in their backpacks necessary for the drastic temperature change by 10am.
Never mind the time change that went into effect this morning, which resulted in our daughter racing into the bedroom at 6:30, because we forgot to set the clock in her room back an hour.
This time of year hit home for me on a recent Sunday, as I was watching the Steelers-Ravens game with my family, and a local weather report came on. The forecast called for snow later in the week.
That Thursday, I woke up to see frost on the ground.  My wife had elected to fire up the furnace on Tuesday.  I went to bed Wednesday night with the thermometer cowering at 33 degrees.
Now comes the time for decisions to be made.
What to get Margie for her birthday, as it and Christmas are pretty much back-to-back.  Making time for Savannah's annual Christmas program at preschool.  Knowing when to pull the mower deck off the tractor and replace it with the snowplow blade.  How much money to set aside for Christmas gifts.  Countless others.
Though I am very much a warm weather person who often laments over missing the warmth of late summer and early fall on the Carolina Coast, I can bask in not forgetting some important aspects of this time of year.
Snuggle weather. Margie and I enjoy cozying under a quilt on the couch as we catch up on our TV watching from earlier in the week.  Her making Christmas cookies with Savannah.  Me making Coq Au Vin on Christmas Eve.
Oh, yeah...deep fried turkey too.  I do make a mean deep-fried turkey.  Or so I've been told.
Then Thanksgiving, a little over three weeks away.
I have to say that 2013 has been a year of challenges for me personally and professionally, but I'm still thankful that it's another year that the Good Lord has allowed me to spend on this side of the soil.
I've been able to spend more time with my daughter, look challenges in the face and overcome them, rather than allow them to overcome me, I've spent more quality time with my dad thanks to a boat rebuild project that got underway in early spring, and still managed to find time to take the annual family vacation to South Carolina.
There's a lot of be thankful for.  Not just on Thursday, November 28th, either.


NEXT WEEK:  Feet on the Ground