Hello again from Pop’s Perspective. It’s hard to believe that this is my thirteenth article that I’m sending off to you! Those of you who have read some of my previous articles may remember that I’ve shared my perspectives on topics such as “Change”, “Spring Cleaning”, “Daylight Savings Time” and “Leisure” among others. And when I got out of bed this morning the temperature outside was a chilly 45 degrees. So just what do you suppose I am thinking about right now?

Well, for one thing summer is behind us. And I guess that means “Change”, the end of “DST”, “Spring Cleaning” is way behind us and we are about to change some of our “Leisure” activities. Yes, like many folks, I am a little bit sad to see the summer come to an end. And quite frankly, the older I get the faster the seasons seem to come and go. When that calendar changes from August to September, I know there are many changes approaching us. These last few chilly nights and mornings bring an awareness that the cold weather of winter is approaching. The leaves will fall (and will have to be cleaned up), our trees become just branches without any “clothes”, snow and ice will certainly come and my beloved golf season will draw to a close.

With the advent of the month of September, it seems as if our lives need to take on some very different routines. Vacations, warm weather, and a somewhat relaxed pace of life are gone. We need to take new directions for our leisure time. Kids are returning to school, school buses roam the neighborhoods and roads, our daily lives change a bit with perhaps earlier children’s bed times, football games take the place of boating and swimming, Halloween then Thanksgiving and then Christmas are fast approaching. In fact, I was in a Lowes store just recently and was surprised (and maybe not too overjoyed) to see the displays of Christmas decorations! (Yes, I know that the “old days” of not seeing Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving are long gone!). And, gosh, that nice Daylight Savings Time will be going away before long and we will be looking at some people waking, driving to work and returning home in the dark.

All of the above may sound like gloom and doom, but wait a minute – I do feel that the advent of the fall season has some wonderful aspects as well. As parents and grandparents, we watch the young folks go off to a new grade or college year, we get caught up in school activities and events, fund raisers abound, hayrides & apple picking take the place of swim team practice and family suppers at the pool or lake, those leaves that are going to fall will first treat us to the spectacular colors they give us each year, pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, cozy fireplaces that provide us with some additional warmth, hot chocolate instead of iced tea and many other changes are welcome.

Sure, it is somewhat sad to see that summer season slip away from us. But perhaps instead of harboring bad thoughts about the change from summer to autumn, we should think of and welcome all the good changes that we experience and be happy that we are not “stuck” in one season. And from Pop’s Perspective, that might just be a little boring!

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Thanks for letting me share yet another of Pop’s Perspectives and watch for more in the coming months.
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