Memories of Fall

Southerners don't get too excited about autumn, as a rule. I guess its because the leaves don't really change that much down here, and it is not uncommon for it to be down right hot on any given day. But it does get a bit cool in the mornings and with all the talk about Gators, Bulldogs and Seminoles, you can't help but notice it is that time of the year.

Most of my memories of the fall are from when I was a kid. Its about the only time of the year when you feel comfortable walking around barefoot outside. I remember when we were kids we would wear a jacket on a brisk autumn day and then role around in the grass until we got good and dizzy, and then we'd try to walk, only to stumble and fall down.

I also remember watching football on television, and then at half time going outside to throw the ball around with my brothers. Some neighborhood kids would come around, and we'd end up playing and forget all about the second half of the game. The quarterback would bark out signals using food groups instead of numbers: "Hot Dogs, French Fries, Mash Potatoes, Hike!!"

It was kind of fun to get tackled and be squished under a pile of kids. And, of course, there would always have to be a Statue of Liberty play where the quarterback would drop back to pass and the running back would run behind him, snatching the ball from his hand and then running for the end zone in the neighbor's yard.

Halloween was always a big deal as well. A sheet was good enough for a costume and a paper bag was all we had back then. You didn't need your parents to walk you around, an older brother or neighbor was sufficient. And you wouldn't even consider heading back home until your bag was good and heavy.

I was kind of partial to my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Fudge, as were most of the other boys. She was very blond and quite statuesque, if memory serves me correctly. As luck would have it, she lived in a house on the street behind ours. I still remember pleading with Ritchie Adams to not blow my cover as we walked up to her doorstep on Halloween night. Of course, he paid no mind and blurted out my name to her, as I bashfully thanked her and slipped that milky way bar in my side pocket for safe keeping.

We didn't get much candy back then, so a bag full of milk duds, baby ruths and candy corn was rather special. I don't recall there being any rules about how much you could eat at any given time. So I would just pretty much binge on candy for a week or so until everything good was gone. Then, you'd combine what was left in every one's bag into the loser bag, which contained all the cheap stuff that no one really liked, and it would just kind of languish there until it got thrown out.

It was kind of neat to be able to see your breath as we walked down the shell path to school in the morning. Your hands would get so cold you'd hold them directly over the heater before class to thaw them out. During recess you could collect big pine cones and later use them to make colorful turkeys, all decorated with glitter and colored paper.

Thanksgiving was a time to take a break from school, as you'd get a few days off. It was nice to play in the woods, now that the bugs where gone. I was a better Indian than a settler, so I would carry a knife and bow as we pretended to fight the pioneers, rummaging through the wooded lots across the street from our house.

There were paths that snaked all through the woods, like a maze. We knew them like the palm of our hand. Teams would be formed so we could wage a make-believe war. Usually it was cowboys against Indians, but sometimes we would change things up a bit and re-enact World War II. It didn't seem to matter what war we were fighting, as long as we were blowing things up or killing someone.

Being a kid seemed to be an endless proposition back then. I remember just wanting to stay there, to never grow up. And it seemed possible, as each day you would wake up and when you looked around, you would breathe a sigh of relief, secure in the knowledge that you were still just a kid. The hands of time try to be kind to us as they turn so very slowly, but surely they do turn.

So if you are lucky enough to have kids, take some time off this time of year and spend some time with them. If you don't have kids, then borrow some and spend a day with them. Take them to the zoo or a football game, or just stay home and decorate pine cones. And when you do, try to remember a time not so long ago, when you were a kid too.