Today was the perfect time of year. Not just the best time of year. But, truly perfect.
It’s Fall. And I live in Utah. And if you don’t, I feel sorry for you. Maybe you guys near the Appalachians, might understand what I’m talking about. But, a beautiful as your fall foliage is, unless you have a 12,000 foot mountain as a backdrop, it really doesn’t compare.
The leaves here in Utah are starting to turn. I have nine maple trees in my yard. Mine are still green, but the ones in my neighbor’s yard across the street are already a beautiful mix of yellow and red. Across the street the other way, my neighbor has an Oak that he has to nurse along with added iron to make up for our soil. The Oak is dressed out in his fall colors. The mountain sides are also covered with the reds and orange and yellow and green of the native scrub Oaks.
It’s beautiful.
But, that’s not what makes it perfect.
The baseball season is winding down. My beleaguered Seattle Mariners have three games left. They are sitting at 66 wins and 93 losses and dead last in their division, 38 and a half games out of first.
But, while the Mariners will be headed home soon to lick their wounds and dream about next season, the baseball playoffs are just kicking off. And it will culminate in the greatest baseball championship in all of sports, the World Series. Baseball is my absolute favorite sport. And the playoffs is when it become exciting.
But that’s not what makes it perfect.
Football season has kicked off. While I grew up in the Seattle area and have supported the Seahawks most of my life, I’m not a huge NFL fan. But, college football is also going on. BYU, my alma mater is just down the road. I’ll put my BYU flag up tomorrow and stream the game over the internet. My daughter just started there as a freshman and attends all the home games. She was recently on TV as a friend of hers wore BYU’s rival’s colors during the first game of the season. A lone red jersey in a sea of BYU blue kind of stood out. My daughter was standing right next to him.
BYU has even won some tough games against ranked opponents.
But, that’s not what makes it perfect.
High school football is also in full swing. My son plays cornerback for Pleasant Grove High School. He’s on the JV squad, but today was the first day he got to dress for the varsity game. His school, Pleasant Grove high school was taking on Skyridge. PG was 3-1 going into the game. Skyridge was undefeated. The game was at Skyridge and was their homecoming game. The lead went back and forth. The skies threatened rain, but held off. The wind was a brisk but comfortable harbinger of the coming storm. Pleasant Grove tied the game with 3:21 on the clock and took the lead on the point after attempt.
The then held off Skyridge to collect their forth win of the season. And my son, although he didn’t play, was right in the thick of the celebration afterwards.
It was perfect.
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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