* It finally feels like Autumn- cool, crisp nights, chilly mornings, warm, sun-soaked days with crystal-blue skies. It's about time, especially after another summer of heat and humidity. My Fall thoughts..
-There are a lot of things I love about Autumn. But one thing I hate is seeing the sunset earlier day-by-day. I don't look forward to those dark late afternoons soon, when the sun sets around 5:00. And it doesn't get light now until after 6:30 in the morning. Kids going to the bus stop in twilight, adults leaving for work in the dark, warming up the car on frosty mornings.
In early November Daylight Savings Time will end and the world will get even gloomier. Not good. But after December 21 we gain time and daylight every day until summer.
- Football. Watching football makes weekends and especially Sundays an event to look forward to each week. When the Eagles played the Giants last Sunday in 92 degree heat and humidity it just wasn't football weather. The Birds were there at the Linc for their home opener, the tail-gating, the crazy eagle fans, the big division-rivalry game. But it just didn't feel like football.
I love pro football, and football now means the fall and helps us get thru the letdown of summer leaving. The high school game son Friday nights, the football office pools, Fantasy Football, the familiar faces of Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long, the excitement of Sunday night football and the anticipation week-to-week of the game and all the events and hype leading up to the game.
Winning also makes life and the fall better. We breeze thru October and suddenly we are at the Thanksgiving games, full of tradition after our turkey. Then it's the December Christmas stretch of games leading up to the playoffs.
It's all fun and makes Autumn better.
- Autumn also means the holidays are just around the corner. Halloween doesn't mean much to me. I know it's an even bigger deal now. Not only are kids trick-and-treating like always, but adults get into it too, with costume parties galore. Look at all the Halloween stores around, specifically devoted to costumes and decorations.
Thanksgiving is probably my favorite fall holiday. It's family, football and food. No pressure of giving gifts. It's parades and prayers and Black Friday. It's only the start of the holiday season, the beginning of a month of holiday parties, shopping and fun.
Christmas is cool- the music, the lights,and yes, the gifts and surprises. We must never forget what Christmas is all about- Jesus.
Christmas is snow ( which we hardly ever get around December 25th), cards, packages at your door, bundling up in jackets and scarves, icy nights and clear-blue days.
More on the holidays around the holidays. They give you something to look forward to at the end of the year. Most are in Autumn, even though they are referred to as "The Christmas holidays." Another reason to love fall.
- Everything pumpkin in fall. Pumpkin smoothies at Wawa is my favorite. So is pumpkin pie. Each year we see more and more pumpkin scents and flavors.
Love the fall flowers too, especially the mums. I miss my summer flowers but mums are still colorful in white, yellow, orange and shades of red. The leaves are beautiful. A pain to rake when they fall, but this year the foliage should be even more spectacular with all the rain we had last spring.
Yes, spring is the time when everything is green and alive again after a brown, dark, gloomy winter. But fall can be gorgeous as well. it all depends how you look at it. it's not the end, it's continuing the beauty of life, another page turned.
- Finally, the fall season is the start of new TV shows and the big movies. With the weather turning colder people hunker down inside their warm homes and catch the new shows on the tube. Always exciting. I used to love the fall preview edition of TV Guide when I was growing up. Had the chart of new and old shows, when they were on, and a capsule description of each program.
Even more so now, I look forward to the fall movies. After a summer of blockbusters, animated films for kids, action superhero stuff for teens and popcorn, silly , mindless flicks on date night, it's time for the really good films to shine.
Films worthy of Oscar- consideration come out, from Labor Day til Christmas. More serious dramas abound, aside form the horror flicks around Halloween and the usual holiday fare near Christmas.
TV and movies- another reason to love fall.
* Johnny Mathis just released a new album on Friday- Johnny Mathis Sings the Great, New American Songbook.
I was never a big Mathis fan, but I knew he was a "singer's singer",He's a legend and an icon, right up there with Tony Bennett, singers we need to appreciate before they are gone.
Johnny's new album is very contemporary, produced by "Babyface" and Clive Davis ( the legendary Arista records producer who capitulated Barry Manilow and Whitney Houston to fame.). It's a great collection of classic, modern songs.
Tunes like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", Adele's "Hello", "Happy", "Just The Way You Are" ( the Bruno Mars one, not Billy Joel), Whitney Houston's "Run To You" and more.
it's a very retrospective collection, classic songs of today,as Mathis reflects upon his life.
"Remember When", the Alan Jackson misty-eyed ballad, is my favorite. "I Believe I Can Fly" also stands out. There isn't a clunker in the batch.
Most of all, for a guy about to turn 82-years-old, Johnny's voice is clear and strong I give him credit for doing something different and out-of-the -box. He could've played it safe and did an album full of old stuff, and his fans wouldn't eaten it up. But Mathis, along with Babyface and Davis, took a chance and it works. It brings Johnny to today and makes him relevant again.
I've never seen Johnny in concert before, but because of this album, I want to see him next spring in Lancaster. That's another thing that this album will do- it will remind fans how great Mathis is, and encourage both die-hard and casual fans to take another listen to his older stuff.
I give his new album a solid 3 1/2 stars out of four. Watch him get nominated for a Grammy.
* O.J. Simpson is scheduled to be released from prison on Monday. Everyone knows O.J.'s story, so I won't rehash the gory details.
It seems he wants to relocate back to Florida, where he has a home. But the authorities there seem to be stalling the paperwork. They don't want him there.
I get it. I think O.J. did commit the infamous murders long ago. He deserves to burn in hell for eternity. I'm into the O.J. saga big time.
But I also believe that O.J. served his time, at least for his latest transgressions. The law is the law, and he did his time. So, allow him to be released, live wherever he wants, and either live out the rest of life or screw up again.
Monday will be a media circus, like anything O.J. There will be cameras and helicopters following his every move. I'm sure the media will follow him everywhere, no matter where he resides or travels to. Talk show hosts will vie to get interviews. O.J. will be big again.
Is it right? No. And in this age of social media and Twitter, O.J. will be hounded constantly. But to me, he did his time. Let him go and see what happens. Just don't allow him to exploit the media or bask in the glory of freedom. O.J> should just go away and not savor all the attention.
Now it's up to the media to let him either sink or swim. Allow him to fade away and don't give him the opportunity to shine anymore.
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