Yup, autumn is finally here

I’ll preface this column by saying autumn is my favorite of the four seasons. I love the warm days, and cool, crisp nights. There’s something so satisfying about hearing leaves crunching under foot, or sipping on a hot cup of coffee while admiring the sun filtering through leaves that have gone from green to gold, red and orange.

After months of hot, humid weather this summer, with temps soaring into the 90’s, it’s great to finally be able to pull on a sweater, lace up some shoes and go hiking in the woods without fear of donating a liter of blood to hordes of stinging mosquitoes and potentially coming down with a case of West Nile at the same time you’re facing blood loss.

I saw yet another sign of fall when a gaggle of Canadian geese flew overhead as part of their long migrations on Saturday. I was coming back from a football game at UW - Stevens Point, and could hear them honking and see them heading south. Even with the warm temperatures over the past weekend that sight alone told me that very soon Old Man Winter will be arriving here in Wisconsin.

Until then, I’ll enjoy the daylight that we have, and savor the chance to cook out on the grill, and watch the Green Bay Packers and Badgers play football before the snows pile up.

I enjoyed the football game in Stevens Point on Saturday, and I caught up with several of my former student-athletes who once wore a Hornets or Falcons jersey. For many, like Blake Draper or Gavino Lopez, it was their first time experiencing a home game with a packed crowd.

COVID has cancelled and taken so much from us, but to be back in that type of atmosphere was amazing. I hope it lasts, especially with the Delta variant sweeping through. I hope kids from Colby and Abbotsford are able to have a full season, and compete in the playoffs.

Speaking of that, I was hoping to catch another great football game between Colby and Abbotsford last Friday, but that game never materialized. I’m not sure if it will be made up at a later date. Colby and Abbotsford have other teams on their schedules, and much depends on if the teams they have scheduled will give up that game.

Neither Colby nor Abbotsford can simply cancel the games; there are consequences for that. It may be another year before either team gets a chance to battle for the travelling milk jug.

I was still able to take in a football game on Friday. I went to Athens and watched their 8-man game with Wauasu East on Friday. The Bluejays would likely struggle playing 11-man this year, with under 20 kids in uniform, but 8-man is the perfect system for Athens to thrive in.

If you have a few playmakers, you can score almost at will. The game reminded me of my first sports reporter gig, when every team I covered was an 8-man program.

I guess that’s another part of fall - we wax nostalgic. How can we not? With the days getting shorter, autumn is the perfect time to reflect and think about the past and remember friends and moments long gone.

That’s the only problem I have with autumn - it’s too short in Wisconsin, and winter, which is too long in Wisconsin, will be coming soon. So fire up the grills, get that stuff on the To Do list crossed off, and drink that Pumpkin Spice Latte before it’s too late!

M USINGS AND G RUMBLINGS

ROSS PATTERMANN R EPORTER