Fall Forward

It's still hot tamales outside, but all accounts point to fall on the horizon: the football season is in full swing, kids are back to school, and you can sense autumn in the cool night air.

Fine by me. I love summer, with the hot sunshine and frilly sundresses and lazy attitudes. I adore a dip in cool water on a hot afternoon, a canoe trip, a beach vacation. But something about fall brings me to life (and it's not only the sports so associated.) The vibrant leaves, the smell of a fire, the nip in the air - all beautiful. Some of my best memories have come in the fall, cozy in a fleece sweatshirt and jeans.

Uncannily, the most nightmarish experiences in my life have also fallen in the fall. Some years ago, I began to track whether this assumption proved true or simply a mistake in my perception, and found it wasn't revisionist history. Cooincidence? Or something more?

And why, with this knowledge, do I always look so forward to this particular change in season? Sometimes, when I acknowledge this, it does bring a chill to my insides and a quick anxiety. But, I refuse to allow it to dampen my autumn anticipation. So what if some bad things happened years ago? Lots of good things happened, too, so what do you do?

This simple attitude can be lost so easily if you allow yourself to focus on the negative, as seems so prevalent not only personally but across the board. People have one bad experience in a place, and suddenly the whole thing is tainted beyond belief.

It's much easier to do this, I know. But, in my consistent attempt to better my overall attitude, I'm not going to do it. I strive to be better than all that, and I think it wouldn't be a bad idea if everyone tried it now and then.

Obviously, I can't make that happen. But as for me, bring it on!