Fall weather arrived last evening while I was at the soccer game. Like a line out of Forest Gump, just like that, it was fall. Their wasn't a lot of wind but it was definitely chilly. While I was driving to the game I had asked my wife if she had seen or heard the geese yet? She hadn't and neither have I. That is usually the first true indicator of fall that I get around here. Speaking to a acquaintance while at the concession stand I learned an interesting fact. I asked him about the geese. He assured me they hadn't arrived yet because the golf course wasn't covered in poop! Ah, so another indicator, one I wasn't aware of as I don't play golf. That gentleman went on to explain what a nuisance those geese could be. I chuckled about that because just a few hours earlier I had read an article about geese. Fun fact, they poop on average every seven minutes. The article I read explained it was due to their rudimentary digestive system. After reading that I thought I always thought fall was because of the leaves falling but maybe it really had to do with the arrival of those geese. I guess the things we know and relate too are really dependent upon where we grew up and lived as children. Birds and pooping? Sea gulls. That is just one of three things that gulls do, they eat, they poop and they squawk! My father liked to compare me to those gulls in that fashion. The reason I use a gull as my profile picture. Geese were not a big part of fall when I was small, duck season was. Fall was falling leaves, cold winds and the beginning of the school year. Today it's the arrival of geese and mums! The road signs may have changed but the destination remains the same, winter.
There are signs we read whether consciously or subconsciously. It seems to me I have become more aware of the signs as I grow older. It could be I am becoming familiar with them because I have seen them more. The time between them hasn't changed, but their arrival appears that way. The season come and go at a pretty fast pace these days. Just where did summer go? It was here two days ago, now it's no where in sight. There are pumpkins, mums and cornstalks everywhere. Halloween decorations are popping up all over. I won't even mention the store decorations and displays. Those signs can be seen nearly year round these days. I remember when they could serve as an indicator of the season, today not so much. But the signs I am talking about are natures signs. They are different depending upon location. I wonder what fall is like in the desert or the mid-west? I haven't lived in those areas. What signs would you see?
I suspect Hallmark has a lot to do with our perceptions of the seasons. Hallmark is synonymous with all of that. Sentiment is their product and they have marketed that sentiment with great success. They even branched out into those made for television movies. The Hallmark channel. That channel does provide some signs of the seasons, I believe Christmas movies are already being streamed to the masses. In the sixties, when I was growing up, A Miracle on 32nd Street was the movie of the season. A little before that, but after Thanksgiving, a advertisement for Norelco shavers with Santa Claus riding on those " floating heads" marked the beginning of the Christmas season. Well all that is the commercial side of the seasons. It's a shame we couldn't have just left out that side of the holidays altogether. I guess it's progress. The degree of sentiment being measured by the degree of commercial success.
The sign of the seasons. What are your signs? Mine have changed. When I was young it was the things important to young people. The beginning and end of the school year. Summer. Yes, stuff happened in between that served as distractions during the school year. I didn't play organized sports and so the season didn't effect me in that way. I loved baseball and that arrived in spring and ended in the fall. So that took care of that. Not much of a hunter the seasons didn't matter all that much to me in that regard. I would go hunting as the mood struck, not very often. Fact is, when I was a kid I pretty much took nature for granted. I was neither fascinated, nor adverse to what Mother nature offered. I find myself paying a bit more attention to it with each passing year. I was born in the summer, just about mid July. That's when the year starts on my clock. I used to think that summer would always come around and so far it has. But now, fall gets me to thinking, with that chill wind and things falling down! The signs of the season have changed. The signs center more on nature now, more properly, natural occurrences. Beginnings and endings. I have a new understanding of where I fit in the picture. I am a part of nature. I have a beginning and an end. I am getting a bit sentimental about all of that.
There are signs we read whether consciously or subconsciously. It seems to me I have become more aware of the signs as I grow older. It could be I am becoming familiar with them because I have seen them more. The time between them hasn't changed, but their arrival appears that way. The season come and go at a pretty fast pace these days. Just where did summer go? It was here two days ago, now it's no where in sight. There are pumpkins, mums and cornstalks everywhere. Halloween decorations are popping up all over. I won't even mention the store decorations and displays. Those signs can be seen nearly year round these days. I remember when they could serve as an indicator of the season, today not so much. But the signs I am talking about are natures signs. They are different depending upon location. I wonder what fall is like in the desert or the mid-west? I haven't lived in those areas. What signs would you see?
I suspect Hallmark has a lot to do with our perceptions of the seasons. Hallmark is synonymous with all of that. Sentiment is their product and they have marketed that sentiment with great success. They even branched out into those made for television movies. The Hallmark channel. That channel does provide some signs of the seasons, I believe Christmas movies are already being streamed to the masses. In the sixties, when I was growing up, A Miracle on 32nd Street was the movie of the season. A little before that, but after Thanksgiving, a advertisement for Norelco shavers with Santa Claus riding on those " floating heads" marked the beginning of the Christmas season. Well all that is the commercial side of the seasons. It's a shame we couldn't have just left out that side of the holidays altogether. I guess it's progress. The degree of sentiment being measured by the degree of commercial success.
The sign of the seasons. What are your signs? Mine have changed. When I was young it was the things important to young people. The beginning and end of the school year. Summer. Yes, stuff happened in between that served as distractions during the school year. I didn't play organized sports and so the season didn't effect me in that way. I loved baseball and that arrived in spring and ended in the fall. So that took care of that. Not much of a hunter the seasons didn't matter all that much to me in that regard. I would go hunting as the mood struck, not very often. Fact is, when I was a kid I pretty much took nature for granted. I was neither fascinated, nor adverse to what Mother nature offered. I find myself paying a bit more attention to it with each passing year. I was born in the summer, just about mid July. That's when the year starts on my clock. I used to think that summer would always come around and so far it has. But now, fall gets me to thinking, with that chill wind and things falling down! The signs of the season have changed. The signs center more on nature now, more properly, natural occurrences. Beginnings and endings. I have a new understanding of where I fit in the picture. I am a part of nature. I have a beginning and an end. I am getting a bit sentimental about all of that.
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