You gotta love early fall...

I was thinking to myself today that early fall has to be one of my favorite seasons. Here are some of my reasons why:

1. There is a nice "briskness" in the air. It's what I like to call "layering" weather - you walk out of the house in the morning all bundled up and you come home with your window down and your shades on. In just a few short weeks the dreary rain will lay siege to us and won't let up for several months.

2. The leaves are turning color and falling. I like being able to walk on them and have them make that nice crunchy sound.

3. The sports of early fall. Football season is in full swing. Say what you want, but football holds a special place in most American's heart. I didn't really play much growing up, but it's fun to enjoy the enthusiasm, pageantry, and loyalty that football brings out. This is especially true for high school and college football, although an NFL apologist might disagree (I've never really followed the NFL closely). The Fall Classic is about to begin, and for college basketball fans "Midnight Madnesses" throughout the country mean the season is just around the corner. Does anyone really care about the NBA anymore? And by the NBA I mean the Blazers...Soccer, one of my true loves, is being played on fields throughout the country. It's a great season for sports.

4. Closely related to #3, sons ask their dads to throw them the football. In our house this has meant that Drew now understands how to run a "slant" or "buttonhook."

5. In election years, citizens are forced to engage in the political process by virtue of the myriad of messages thrown at them. Mailings, radio and TV spots, town hall meetings, etc...These things force all of us to analyze where we are going as a society, and whether we want that to change.

6. We're still just far enough away from exams that most law students haven't entered that chaotic haze of mid-November through mid-December.

I know this isn't really a typical post for me, but I thought it would be good to record a few of the thoughts I had on this season. Hope you enjoyed them...