AUTUMN

As my neighbor, who's got young children, said the other day, "Oh, Autumn, I love it! The kids are in school, the weather's nice, the leaves are turning, and football season's starting--what's there not to like?"

Well, she's right, of course. Except for football, which I could never get interested in, although I tried, since my husband and son were real afficionados of the pigskin (while I spent most of the game supplying them, and their friends, with drinks and munchies it seemed), autumn is one of my favorite seasons, too. There's such a quickening in the air and in the spirit--you can almost feel it as you step outside. Although I'm not exactly the outdoors type when Fall comes I look forward to walks in the woods and the smell of bonfires floating through the air. And can anything be more beautiful, or more inspiring, than the brilliant colors of the season as Mother Nature lifts her paint brush and presents us with her fiery orange and crimson leaves? I remember growing up in Colorado, when the aspen leaves would turn whole mountainsides into sheets of gold, so magnificent you almost had to catch your breath.

Then with Halloween just around the corner, with its little Trick or Treaters, what fun to see all the costumes which seem to get more elaborate each year. I can recall when an old sheet and a homemade mask were perfectly acceptable Halloween gear, but no longer. Costumes of the famous, and the infamous, seem to be derigueur today, although I'm sure there'll still be lots of little princesses and cowboys as in years past. However I've noticed, and my friends confirm it, that there are not as many kids ringing the doorbell as before, probably due to the fact that parents are keeping their children at home, or having private parties, due to the concern about all the crazies out there. Which is sad.

But let's not dwell on such unpleasantness. Autumn is here in all its glory and that's cause for celebration. And what to do with all that leftover Halloween candy I bought? I know--I'll give it to the gals in my bridge club. Of course they'll complain about putting on extra pounds, but by the end of the game the candy will be gone, and I'll be one of the worst offenders. But so be it.