Fall(ing) into Fall

I'm corny. I know this.

Fall has so many associations for me, so I'm really excited about this topic.

Of course, I am always falling behind with things I need to do:

Clean house? Uh, little behind on that.
Laundry? If it gets done, it's is in piles on the guest bed for weeks.
Projects at work? Yeah, not even started.

Heck, even when I walk along with Wes, I'm always falling behind him. Blame it on the fact that his legs are a good (quite a) few inches longer than mine. Falling.

And then there's this one time...at band camp. Ha! In all seriousness, my sophomore year of high school was my first year as drum major for the marching band. I had been shipped off to band camp (and actually almost got sent home--long story), been through band camp with my band, and was primed and ready for my first game. My first football game. It was a home game. I was so nervous I thought I was going to pee myself. It's a nervous habit of mine. We had a sort of non-traditional halftime show that first game. We were recognizing the graduating class of 1953 (maybe the first graduating class of the school??) and so it was more of a homecoming-type set up (playing some cheesy song softly in the background instead of the whole show). Easy peazy, right? Yeah, not so much. We finished the halftime performance successfully. As the band marched to the sidelines playing the fight song, I heaved a huge sigh of relief as they played the last note. I did it! I made it through the first show! I stepped down off the podium, and all I remember was face-planting. I ate turf. I heard the scratch of my cummerbund as the velcro separated and the entire cummerbund popped off. All I could do was ball up on the 50-yard line's sideline--imagine the position you had to assume for tornado drills in the hallways of elementary school. SHIT! Shit shit shit! was all I could say. I was mortified. My evil ex-boyfriend's dad was video taping. The entire TOWN had seen this happen. To make matters worse, band members were all crowding around me, worried that I had been hurt. Do egos count? That was definitely damaged. Falling from a 4ish foot podium certainly is one of those moments--you know, the ones you write about for that "My Most Embarrassing Moment" assignment. Fortunately, for me, to my knowledge, there is NO video footage--the camera was shut off *right* before I stepped down.

ETA: Speaking of falling...earlier in the year--not quite winter and not yet spring--I wore a skirt. And hose. Nylons. Torture devices, whatever you'd like to call them. And my awesome knee-high boots (that I have identical in brown, too!). I think it was the first time I'd worn hose in at least a year, and this time, it was more cosmetic than for "sucker-innerness." Just like any other morning, I pulled up right out front at Caroline's daycare. I dropped her off without a hitch, and when I walked back outside, somehow...someway, I still haven't figured it out...I missed the curb and was falling, in front of God and everybody. The only thing I could thing about was my $8 brand spanking new Hanes Silk Reflections hose and that I couldn't go through my second pair before 7:30 a.m. I ended up prostrate on the ground. No injuries, but better yet, no runs either! In my acrobatics, I managed to land almost in push up position. A former teacher and another mom both came running up to me. I was perfectly, amazingly, fine. They thought I was crazy when I told them it looked worse than it was because I was trying to avoid a run in my hose. I'm weird like that, I guess.

I love fall. It's my favorite season. It's Georgia football season (GO DAWGS!) for starters. I am giddy with excitement as I watch the first College Game Day of the season. I can watch football--college only--all day. I love the passion of Georgia fans. I love the loyalty of Georgia fans. I love the energy of Georgia fans. I love the excitement of the games. I love the tailgating, the cheering, the crowd. The Redcoat Band. I love the Redcoats.

One late summer morning on my walk to the office, I was overwhelmed with excitement as I realized that I was wearing the perfect Game Day outfit: black, red, and white plaid skirt and a red, sleeveless cowlneck shirt. I couldn't wait to wear it to a game, to watch a game, on game day...to celebrate the glory that is Red and Black. That morning, my perfect Game Day outfit translated not only into the joy I have for football season but also the excitement about fall's approach.

Fall means my birthday is quickly nearing. November is a great time for birthdays (except the 30th, but we're not counting that one this year, right?). Election time excites me *not* because I love politics (because I totally don't) but because I know my birthday is right after elections. It's a whirlwind once November hits: elections, birthday, end of the quarter, Thanksgiving, Caroline's birthday, Christmas, and before you can catch a breath, it's the new year. It's a blur and a frenzied time, but it's fun.

I love the cooler weather fall brings, but more cherished is the smell in the air. I can *smell* fall. You know that smell of the leaves raked in a neat pile, ready to be destroyed by a mischevious soul? That smell warms my soul. Apple pies, pumpkin pies, crisp days, and that smell of leaves--dirt and nature and life and death and childhood and happiness all swept up into that pile. My heart smiles. The emotions are hard to grasp because they are so overwhelming. Memories.

Once again, I am a child, falling into a pile of freshly raked leaves. All my worries disappear and all is right with the world.

Fall

Fall is my favorite time of the year. Maybe it's because I associate it with the change of seasons that happen everywhere except South Georgia. Leaves turn yellow and orange and a certain chill inhabits the air. You can finally take a walk at 8:00 P.M. and not die of humidity although I am still not likely to do that. October rolls in with the challenge of trying to find a costume big enough to fit an 85 pound golden retriever by the end of the month. (Oh, if only it ever got to be "sweater weather" as my friend Katie says.)



When I lived in Douglas, fall was football season. Cheerleading practice after school; Friday night games. Fresh cut grass that resulted in me wearing golf shoes to games because I got tired of getting grass on my shoes. The infamous "hedge" that students jumped over when we beat Valdsota. The sound of the cheerleaders on the sidelines. Students talking in the stands. The players on the field, the sound of their bodies crashing into each other.



I would be lying if I said I didn't miss it. But for me, high school football games are always so much more meaningful if I know the players on the field, the students in the band, the cheerleaders on the sideline. My 8th grade students often ask me if I am going to the LHS football games, and I always say, "No, I have done my time as an ex-cheerleading coach." But maybe next year, when they are ninth graders, I will finally have a reason to go to a football game.



I could care less about college football. Georgia. Florida. I couldn't give a flying flip. (Yeah, yeah, yeah. Adam.) Maybe it's because I'm not from Georgia that I cannot appreciate the thing that is college football. But I did mourn the loss of UGA VI over the summer. Maybe if there was a cute frat boy to show me the way . . . I guess I could be a puma.

Falling into Old Age

Surely, you knew I would write about this given my current situation. Apparently, I fell down a vibrant woman, climbing a volcano, helping my husband with his business, enjoying Greece, cruising around the caldera. I brazened it out for a while. In Athens, I limped up the many, many, many steps to the Parthenon, enjoyed the views in the Theatre of Dionysus, admired the caryatids (which I always want to call katydids) on the Erectheon, and returned home, handling the forty-five minute flight, then nine-hour flight, then four-hour ride graciously.

I left Greece and returned to Valdosta, to real life, to prepping for college classes, to cleaning house, to Blackwater Writing Project. But then I left VSU, fell down the steps in the rain, and became an old woman--that woman in the commercial who fell and couldn't get up. I fell into old age, and unlike the woman who kissed a girl with cherry Chapstick, I didn't like it.

Wes helped me up and helped me find a doctor. He's a good husband.

The doctor planned surgery on my knee to cut out the bad cartilage and to test my ACL. I was pretty blase about surgery. I had experienced anesthesia before and liked it. When I had a breast biopsy several years ago, I woke up alert and hungry from surgery. We went to the drugstore for pain medicine (just in case) and then went to an Italian restaurant for lunch. Wes couldn't believe it. His prior outpatient surgery turned into a hospital stay because of his reaction to anesthesia.

When the doctor told me I needed surgery on my knee, I said, "Let's do it," and set the date, eager to get my knee back. Silly Donna. Apparently, old age affects anesthesia as well. This time I didn't come out of the anesthesia as easily or clearly. As the physical therapist explained exercises she wanted me to do at home, I was barely conscious. She made me walk on crutches, but I struggled to stay awake, so they put me in a wheelchair and let me go home, where I slept all day long, even when my mother-in-law dropped by to check on me. I slept on my back--I have rarely slept on my back. It's uncomfortable to me.

My stomach rebelled against the anesthesia as well--not to the point of sending food backwards, just to the point of being unsettled. My mother-in-law brought dinner to me that night, but I couldn't stand the thought of eating. I had to go to the bedroom to get away from the smell. All day, I struggled with feeling nauseous and with being sleepy.

Even the next day, I slept most of the day. Most people don't realize how strange that is for me, but I'm the anti-nap woman. Usually, I get eight hours of sleep per day, and once I hit that eight hours, I can't sleep anymore. Not after surgery. I was probably only awake for five hours total on Thursday and four hours on Friday. Isn't that old woman hours?

I'm coming to terms with it. The sleeping has stopped (it had to--I'm back at school). The limping is minimal. It's supposed to be gone, but I still fear reinjuring the knee. The crutches are leaning against the wall in the kitchen, but the doc told me to take them on the family shopping trip, just in case. The family shopping trip is on and coming up soon. At least there, I'll be the youngest person there.

Fall Forever

I love fall. It was really great when we lived in Atlanta and the leaves actually changed instead of just dying all at once. But anyway, my favorite part is that slow change of the air, you know, when you can feel the temperature dropping just a few degrees in the evening. Those are the perfect football nights. Cool air, a breeze, popcorn and cokes that chill your fingers. Post-season baseball (go BoSox!), college football, cider, baking pecan pies, changing leaves, clear nights when you can see the stars. Yep, I love the fall. No need for jackets yet, just long sleeves. Fall is also the beginning of Christmas shopping. My favorite day of the year is probably the after-Thanksgiving day sales. To be at the mall (no, not the Valdosta mall) at 5:00 in the morning ready to charge in the door and wait in line for that one deal I've got to have...ahh, that's good stuff. The smell of Starbucks in the air, and the elbow to elbow shuffle through crowded stores. I know, you think I'm crazy, but to me it's all a challenge, who has the best deal, and can I get it before it's gone.

The worst part of fall is that it's too short, especially in Valdosta. Some people would say it lasts straight through the winter, but it doesn't. It starts late and then ends when everything dies. Then you're left with crunchy grass, cold weather, no snow, and chilly humidity. The humidity seems better in the fall too...

No real point to my post, just sort of felt like rambling...and getting ready for fall.

Fall, trip, fall, autumn

I have been working with kids on looking for synonyms to use or to help understand their vocabulary words. So my immediate reaction was to think of words to help me focus my brain in a direction. Of course that is never an easy thing to do, and in my head is a space that most do not want to enter.

I saw Donna's reference to falling, as in herself. It reminded me of how klutzy I am. I had a job once where the manager when hiring would warn people that if they heard anyone yell, it was just "Diana." Last week I banged my right leg, you know right on the muscle and almost fell over. Should I have learnt by now to look where I am going? You would think, however, today I got the left leg. So tomorrow I will have another bruise, although I should be ble to walk normally again :-)

I had never heard this time of year called fall until I moved to the US. It took a while to get used to it. Autumn was what I was used to, and until the last couple of years it was not a term most people I came across were familiar with.

Autumn was not anymore a favorite season than others, but it was a time of year that makes me think of short days and longs night with fires burning and lights that pierced through the fog and gloom of the English afternoons.

Mornings would see us trudging through whatever weather had descended during the night. Still dark and bone chilling cold even at 8:30 in the morning. School was over at 3pm and it would not be too different to the morning. Still cold, and weather that had not changed. It would be getting dark again, and by 330-400 th e streetlamps would be coming on and cars headlights would be shining through the mist and drizzle that appeared to be a continuous issue no matter what.

Walking home, it was always cheery when passing a house where the windows were uncovered and a fire could be seen blazing. Just as relaxing were the days when I could look out of the window with the fire behind me while watching other people walking by and wishing they were home.

Fall isn't the same here. Trees still change, but walking around and home through dreary weather is a totally different experience to being in a vehicle where you can't see and smell the odors of wood burning, or the weather. Then there is the fact that daylight is longer, so the days even though I know it is that time of year do not seem right because there is too much light.

October Write Night

Tonight's Topic: Fall

You may want to write about the fall weather, the activities associated with fall (such as football games and holidays and homecoming), or you may read fall as clumsy (as in Donna). Or reject all of these ideas, and write whatever you want. BWP is flexible. We just ask that you write and share. In person, we usually eat, write, and share, but we make allowances on the blog. I hope to see you in person at Hildegard's or to see your words on the blog.