As summer comes to an end, all I say is Glory! Bring on the fall. Let the football games begin. Let the leaves begin to fall. I can hardly wait for cooler weather and the chance to feel good inside a jacket.
The summer of 2005 has been unusual to say the least. Hurricanes and storms have provided rain almost daily. I turned off my lawn sprinkler system weeks ago and my lawn and flowers have not missed it. If memory serves me right, I remember a summer not long ago when we had no rain for a whole month.
The heat lately has been miserable. We went to a high school football game Friday night in Millbrook to see our grandson Joseph play. He played well, even taking a turn at quarterback and directing a couple of touchdown drives. But it was so hot and muggy that it was difficult to breathe just sitting on the sidelines.
By October and November my sweet wife will get excited about building a fire in the fireplace. I have a stack of kindling tucked away in a dry place. If my wife will just bring in a few logs, I can build a fire that will make any country boy envious.
I am content with gas logs, but Mamma insists on having a “real” fire. So I cut her a deal. You bring in the logs and I will make them burn. I gave up bringing in firewood for Lent several years ago and it is not good to break covenants.
The fall season will eventually give way to winter. That is not my favorite time of the year. I like snow – when I see it on television. It is enough for me to see snow during the Army-Navy game. I am not a lover of cold weather.
One January I attended a conference in Cleveland. They arranged a snow storm for me, just for me. Outside the conference center the wind almost ripped my clothes off. It was 16 degrees below zero. To say it was bitter cold would be an understatement. I remember praying, “Lord, if you will help me get out of Cleveland, I promise never to come this far north again in the wintertime.”
Cold winter days stir thoughts of spring. Glory! Springtime -- what a heavenly gift! Drab gray turns to green. Dormant trees come alive with buds and leaves. Suddenly plants and people are bursting with new energy as the earth births new life.
Soon the thermometer rises and we get ready for summer. We like it because it is a chance for vacations, swimming, fishing, and picnics – anything that gives us a change of pace and relief from the grinding duties of life.
Once I spent a few days in Hawaii. They told me the temperature stayed about 70 degrees year-round. “You would love it out here,” they said. Not me. I love Alabama and our changing seasons. I know of no other place that can beat living in Alabama.
In the wintertime the folks in Cleveland wish they lived in Alabama. In August the folks in Arizona would love to exchange their 110 degree heat for our weather. Weather here in the fall and in the spring is just about perfect.
Preachers like to talk about the love of God. And they should because God does love us. I would believe he does if I had no other reason than the changing seasons. Our Creator is not boring. His world is not boring. Flowers bloom in every season of the year, offering us an incredible assortment of dazzling colors.
This good earth may not be perfect, but it is a place of infinite variety and created, I think, for our enjoyment. Since we are here for only a few seasons, we might as well find ways to enjoy it!
Well, glory! + + + +