It's That Time of Year

There's a day each September when you can smell it. When you are walking from your car one night or maybe walking outside first thing in the morning. You can smell cooler weather, golden leaves and haystacks. You can smell things like apples and squash and pumpkins even though you live in the middle of the city and nowhere near the Farmer's Market. Regardless of the temperature, just because September is an autumn month, it makes you believe that with that slightly cooler weather comes all your favorite things about fall. Which means you also smell things like halloween costumes, fall festivals and Thanksgiving dinners. Some people around these parts might say that along with the first of September, comes the smell of one thing and one thing only: Football. When we say "fall" we see, hear and smell "Tennessee Football" and very little else.

Football in Tennessee is like oversized sunglasses and rollar blades in California. Football in Tennessee is like maple syrup and homemade applesauce in Vermont. Football in Tennessee is like gigantic beads and beignets in New Orleans, cowboys and wild horses in Montana, the Red Sox and baked beans in Boston. Long story short, football is just what we DO in Tennessee in September. It's what we think of at the first mention of "September." That first real month of fall is where we have more faith than any other time of the year, where we believe we have every chance in the world. There IS no other sport in Tennessee in the month of September. Period.

Unless. Of course. You are the parents of a 5 year old that signed up with Parks and Rec to play soccer. Then, your child's soccer schedule will require your formally unphased commitment to Tennessee Football waiver amazingly so and with lightening speed. I mean, there are parents out there that would probably literally shed tears over the schedule we've been handed. We watched the Vols' impressive 50-0 win over UT-Martin. That may have possibly been the last full home game we see in person this year thanks to this soccer schedule. BUT, we aren't complaining.

Folks, it's SOCCER TIME IN TENNESSEE!!!!!!

Cooper had a little run-in (literally) with a classmate on the playground this day. So, he was having lip issues (and by issues, I mean a sore on the inside of his lip the size of a piece of bubblegum)
Someone is in heaven. And it ain't the kid.

I see potential!

An impressive attack of the goal!

As with the first day of Kindergarten and all the incredible moments before that, our lives continue to change in every possible way. Every time we think we've settled into a routine, into what we think is our new normal, it changes again. Life is full of surprises and this simple, short soccer schedule was a possibly much-needed reminder that there is so, so much more to life than football.

So, it's with great pride that I say GO EAGLES!