Well, it's finally that time of year again. Summer has come to a close and it's time for syllabus week! But you're okay with that! Why? Because it's fall! The best season of the year! Here are some points to prove why it truly is the best season!
1. Pumpkin Spice everything
Let's be honest, you know that when the fall season rolls around and Starbucks starts advertising those pumpkin spice lattes, you actually are cheerful and screaming for joy inside. Who doesn't love the taste of of them? Or even just the smell! For real though, this actually does make the fall compete.
2. Football and tailgates
Imagine, you're in the student section and the home team has the ball going for the game-winning touchdown! Just that sentence has gotten you excited, right? I know it has me. What better of an event is there to attend in the fall than a big tailgate with some of your closest friends and then the game? Tailgating is totally the best. It's a time where after all your hard work through the week can be put aside so you can enjoy yourself and the company of your buds while maybe having a brew or two.
3. The colors of the season
If you haven't noticed this before, put your cell phone down and look up! Starting in late August, the trees begin to change color and the environment around you has actually been painted into a beautiful masterpiece. Gather some of your friends and drive to Red River Gorge. Trust me. I know that if you just take a day in the fall to experience this, you'll be in awe. There's a whole new world to discover in the fall – everything is bright orange, warm red and inviting yellow! It kind of goes hand-in-hand with those pumpkin spice lattes!
4. Sweater weather
No, I don't mean the song. I guess you could listen to it while wearing a sweater! But it's that time where the wind gets that perfect, crisp bite in the air. You're walking to class and the sun is shinning and you're jamming to the fire playlist you've created on Spotify. Next thing you realize the wind starts blowing and you start to get a chill. That feeling! To me that's my favorite feeling! That just reassures me that fall is about to be in full swing.
5. Bonfires
So you're traveling down a dirt road as the sun is sinking away into the abyss. The crickets are chirping and the cicadas are buzzing, and it's finally time to unwind! Finally you've reached your destination of a big open field with a pile of logs stacked up. All of your best friends around gather around on their tailgates to enjoy the cracking of a cool fall night bonfire. It's the perfect time to unwind from all the happenings of the day or week in the concrete jungle.
6. Drive-ins
Most people don't even know what this is anymore! Drive-ins are a past time which really need to make a come back! Who needs to go to the theaters to see the new box office film? Just get your truck, load the bed down with pillows and blankets and go to a local drive-in. Gather your friends and pile in the back of your truck and enjoy the company while you enjoy the new hit movie with the wide open, star-filled sky!
7. Thanksgiving
It's time for a mini break from school and time to go home and spend quality time with the people who back up all your decisions. It's a time in which we realize all of the things that we are thankful for. It's a time where people, universally, start to show more gratitude for the simple and complex things they experience in their everyday life. However, while home for this short break you never plan on it but the inevitable is going to happen. Food coma! Imagine, your mom is in the kitchen starting at 3 a.m. putting that 20-pound bird in the oven. Around noon, you'll finally be able to carve the turkey, load your plate with stuffing, corn pudding and all of the other fixings! You'll load your plate down but you'll be lucky enough to finish even half of your plate.
8. October
Let us not forget about the best month out of the year! By this time, fall is in full swing. The trees have changed and the masterpiece has been painted! But the most important part of the month is...boo! You guessed it, Halloween! This month is all about seeing scary movies, going to haunted houses with your friends and just enjoying the thrills of the month. You never know what is lurking around the corner! Who knows, you may even have a bonfire or two.
9. Basketball is around the corner
C-A-T-S Cats! Cats! CatsI Come on guys! You know you are already excited for next season. Our team is the greatest and we're never afraid to show it! We can't wait to see what Cal has in store for us this upcoming season. Plus it's going to be time before you know it to set up those tents and wait for the Big Blue Madness tickets.
10. Going back to school
Finally, summer has come to a close. Yes it may seem sad, but honestly you're ready to be back with your friends, I know I am. Just think about that move-in day to where you're finally reunited with your friends that are all across the country. Yes, you may have been texting them all summer but honestly, when you first see them, you know you're going to scream like a little girl. It's finally time to start buckling down and get through another school year!
11. Deer season
Finally! We have waited all year for this. It's finally time to start waking up at 4 a.m. to beat the sun to the woods. The smell of the fall leaves is in the air; there is a light frost on the ground and a nip in the air that we have all been waiting for. It's finally time to set up next to a tree and call in that big 12-point buck you've been scouting for a month. It's part of heritage and something that a lot of people do to fill the freezer for the next year. Plus, it's never a bad thing to have one hanging on your wall. Most people think that hunting is a terrible thing to do, but as hunters, we are actually conservationists. Yes, it's something that we do as a sport and because we like it. However, at the same time, we help with population control of deer, and we are always thankful to the animal for helping us feed our families for the next year.
If only fall could last year round! Life would be perfect. Sweater weather all year with temperature right around the 60s would be perfect! However, like all good things, fall must come to an end, and unfortunately, we have to face old man winter himself. But before you know it, it'll be fall yet again.
