Ready for Autumn

I'm always sad to see summer go. I love so many things about summer. Tank tops, warm sunshine on my shoulders, swimming, smelling green things, watching flowers and vegetables grow, eating fruit that ripened in the sun, reading summer type books... and on and on.

But autumn is good too. There's a sensation I get from smelling autumn air that's hard to describe but I'll give it a shot. It makes me feel expectant of good things, like romance and excitement. I think it comes from the tradition of Friday night football games in the small town in Iowa where I grew up.

When I was in elementary school the Friday night football game was where we all went to have what felt like unsupervised socialization. It was where all the rumors about who liked whom, who kissed whom, and who the cute boys/girls from the other schools were. After school on a Friday, I'd ride the bus home, eat dinner, and start getting ready for the game. I'd be sure to wear something cute, put my hair up just right and have plenty of my school colors on. My dad would put on his orange and black hat, and the satin jacket he'd sewn a large snarling tiger face onto. He'd give me a few dollars for hot chocolate and pizza, tell me I had to wear a scarf and take my gloves, and always take too much time getting out to the truck. "We'll miss the kickoff, Dad!" When we got there, I'd start scanning the crowd, looking for friends and cute boys. Most of the boys from my class and the other classes close to our age were already playing their own game of football on the warmup field behind the equipment shed. I did watch a little football on Friday nights, but mostly I got interested in all the gossip about the high school players and their girlfriends. Most intriguing was the gossip that involved high school boys and junior high girls. I outwardly professed to be glad I wasn't gossiped about like that, but secretly I think we all wanted to be known for kissing a high schooler. It was at one of these football games that Josh Dalton, a cute, if troubled boy in my class, approached me as I was walking down the steps from the bleachers and said, "Hey Kelli, I know somebody who likes you." Not wanting to betray my secret crush on him for fear it would all be a joke to make fun of me, I played along. "Oh yeah? Who is it? And why isn't he over here talking to me instead of you?" His hormonal little boy mind danced at having elicited a response from me, but froze on what to do about it next. "I can't tell you who. But he's here at the game tonight." He ran off. I'd been burned by this kind of gag before. Stupid boys thought it was funny to make a girl think they liked her and then say something like "NOT!" or "PSYCH!" But part of me was always hopeful that they would really mean it someday. I didn't expect much from Josh, so I made myself dismiss the whole thing as another attempt at a mean trick. When I came back to the bleachers again, balancing my piping hot cup of cocoa and a bag of french fries, he came running back over to me and breathlessly confided, "I have a secret for you. C'mere." I leaned my head over, mindful of the flimsy styrofoam of my cocoa cup. Josh whispered in my ear, "The guy who likes you is wearing a Batman shirt." We both straightened up and looked at each other a moment before he ran off again. This time he beamed me a smile that still makes me blush a little thinking back on it now. As he turned to run, I caught a glimpse of his sweatshirt under his open jacket. A bright yellow Batsignal covered his chest. "Wait!" I yelled, spilling some of my fries and nearly cracking my cup, but he was gone.

Anyway, that's the feeling I get when autumn sets in. Anticipation mixed with trepidation, and hot cocoa and french fries.