October

October has always been my favorite month. As a boy, I fell in love with squirrel hunting. To this day, it is my all-time favorite kind of hunting. Although I no longer shoot animals, I still think about stalking the woods sometimes like I used to and shooting tree rats with a .22 rifle. Even though I no longer hunt, there are several reasons October has remained number one in my time of year.

One reason is the cooling of the weather. I have always liked the heat, but by August, I, like most people, have had my fill of severe sweating. Although September brings some relief, it is not until October that things really cool off. I ran yesterday after I got off work. A month ago, I would have been sweating and huffing and puffing. Even after a mile, I felt the cool air that enveloped my head. It was glorious. Not only are the temps lower, but the dew points fall in the fall also. I don't know the meteorological explanation for this, it is as predicatable and the shortening of the days.

Of course I like the leaves. They begin to turn a touch yellow in late September. The process continues slowly throughout the month. God certainly knew what He was doing. The change in weather and the change in the color of the leaves adds variety to our lives. Variety keeps us fresh, keeps us enjoying life. God gave us life. We should enjoy it. Do that. Join me in thanking God every day for the weather, for life, for leaves, and let's not forget the butterflies that migrate this time of year.

Finally, October means college football is in full swing. Football, the college kind, is my favorite spectator sport. I especially am into SEC football. The league has a saying: "It just means more." It does and there is a reason for that. The South has long been the whipping boy of the nation. They berate us for our ignorance (although I believe the average snuff-dipping Mississippian knows more about life than the average supeior-feeling Yankee), our racism, (again, I dispute. We are way better than the rest of the country), our poverty (they might be right about that one). Not only does the rest of the country berate us, but we lost a war. In short, we don't have a lot to be proud of but we can be and are proud of football. Meet us on the field, and we will hand you your a$$. 

I'm not the only one who enjoys the fall. Cats play more, horses run through pastures, dogs (the hunting kind) want to go to the woods. All of life takes on a new energy, a new joy, and a new celebration of having survived the summer.