Dear Reader:

It’s Welcome Back to College Football Time! The first of September…time for whistles to blow and let the games begin.

First off…let me wish everybody a great season and lots of fun! I keep looking down at  my finger nails and wonder how long they will last…probably to the second game before the chewing starts.

Even when the weather doesn’t feel much like fall…there is something about the kick-off of high school and collegiate games that seem to force fall to seriously start reconsidering pushing in a little faster. First games are so much fun because the crowd gets to see all the new players we have heard and read about in action for the first time. (Hopefully with a lot of “ooh’s and “aah’s.”)

*My computer has been acting strangely while working on this post …sorta stopping in mid-sentence and refusing to finish the line…I thought that kind of thing only happened to the writer.

My computer definitely has pushed some kind of “pause” button that keep kicking in or is playing “Freeze Frame.” (I say this only because if it stops again before the blog is finished and the post ends in mid-sentence…you will know it was the computer (hopefully) and not me keeling over or something! (again, hopefully! 🙂

The Clemson game today is at high noon…like a famous shoot-out in some western movie…I love noon and 3:00 games so I can then relax and enjoy all the other games…dislike waiting until 8 or 8:30 for Clemson to play at night…I am exhausted from watching all the other games before they even throw the first ball.

It is the memories we associate with a place…a high school or college that adds so much nostalgia to the game. I still remember when Walsh, Mandy, and I drove up for the Clemson -Florida State game and had so much fun with Tommy and his friends. One of my favorite memories from Tommy’s tenure there.

 The next time we returned was graduation…wow…those college days passed so quickly.

I think fall, more than any other season, brings back our personal adolescent memories…I have felt more bursts of sheer joy in fall than any other season. I think it has to do with a combination of lengthening shadows and wonderful aromas (leaves burning, bonfires, crackling fires in the fireplace, new shoes for school) luscious tastes of heavy soups and stews, the touch of sweaters and jackets. Fall is just a wonderful season….cool and calm.

The string that was holding my HOPE letters on the deck banister popped during a thunderstorm a few weeks back. I brought the letters in but forgot to do anything with them…until the other night I was putting in a load of clothes, saw them, and threw the cloth letters in at the last minute.

They were pretty wrinkled when they got out…so I ironed (this doesn’t happen much folks-take notice) them because to my way of thinking…HOPE should never be wrinkled…but hang crisp and strong!

So until tomorrow…my HOPE for all of you is that fall is magical, fun…and everything you want it to be.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh (Go Tigers!)

…And can you believe September is here! The first day…so don’t forget to say “rabbit” first thing this morning (help your team out) and get all that good mojo spreading around..