Autumn Blues

I'd like to say I can't explain it, but in truth, I think I can.

Autumn (the fall season) depresses me. I tell this to people and they are shocked. "Why? The changing leaves are so beautiful!" or "Oh don't you just love the crisp fall air?". I know everyone means well, but autumn has always signified the end of things I really enjoy. Summer is over and it's time to go back to work. UGH! Summer is over and fishing on the lake is done for another year. Summer is over and it's time to close the pool.

Some very important people in my life have died in the fall. My grandpa Meyer died on October 9th. My dad died on August 31st (I know that's technically still summer, but it's close enough to fall for me). My cousin Harold "Ossie" Ostendorf died in October (not sure of the exact day).

Fall is also the season of Halloween. Anyone who knows me well, knows I have complete disdain for everything Halloween. I'm sure I'll get all kinds of grief for this. I have felt this way since I was very young. Oh sure, I went out begging for candy and ate it until I was ill. But there are so many things about Halloween that just plain bug me. The darkness of evil behind everything, the morbid themes, the so-called pranks (busting pumpkins, putting TP in trees, stealing candy bags from unsuspecting, innocent children etc...). I remember one particular halloween when my young son wrote a note and taped it to the pumpkin on our porch. It read, "Dear Teenagers, please don't smash my pumpkin". That only reinforced my existing feelings about this pagan "holiday".

You may say I'm a stick-in-the-mud or some kind of killjoy. I will gladly accept that label. I'm not talking about three year old girls dressed as princesses or 4 year old boys dressed as Super Man getting some candy on October 31st. I'm talking about the overarching ideas behind the whole deal and what many adults have turned it into.

I do enjoy some aspects of fall. A nice drive to look at God's beautiful handiwork in the changing leaves. Football season and the World Series. The fact that "it ain't winter yet".

But as much as I despise winter, the fall is not far behind. Give me spring and summer any time! You can keep the crisp air :-)