August 24, 2008

Do you feel it?

Do you notice, every morning, how it’s a little more comfortable when you step outside? How it’s always a little cooler in the evenings than it was the day before? Have you caught yourself waking up at 3 in the morning and thinking, “Man, I should turn that AC back tomorrow,” before pulling the covers up a little higher?

Do you see it?

Do you notice the trees, how their leaves are starting to turn a little more pale, a little drier, every day? Have you noticed the condensation on your windshield when you leave for work? Have you discovered that every morning, it’s a little darker out when you leave, and how, when you come home, the sun’s not quite as high in the sky as it was the day before? Have you looked up at the clouds lately and thought, “Those clouds look exactly like the clouds before a snowstorm”?

Do you hear it?

Have you stopped recently to listen to the bees and other bugs buzzing, only to find they’re not buzzing so much anymore? Have you heard how even the crickets at night seem to sing a little deeper, a little more subdued? Have you heard the breeze in the trees, how it sounds a little crisper, a little harder?

Do you get it?

Football season has started. NFL training camp’s closed, preseason’s under way. High schools are lining up and starting practices. Fantasy leagues are forming now. And you’re reading one happy blogger, because the drought of summer is over, and now is the time when large sweating men strap on pads and helmets and meet on the field of battle to knock each other silly for three and a half hours.

It doesn’t get better. The commercials have already started. I laughed myself silly at Subway last week - perhaps you’ve seen the commercial. Perhaps, like me, you saw the punchline (”…because your Monday morning can’t touch this…”) coming from a mile away, complete with bells, whistles, and fireworks to proclaim it’s pending arrival. And perhaps, like me, you laughed hysterically anyway. Then, perhaps, you remembered all the great “It must be Football Season” commercials from Southwest Airlines, like the “I’m open” one or the fieldgoal-kicking shoe customer. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.

Fall’s coming. Football’s coming. Are you ready?