Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall

(Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)

The moon rises over downtown Austin on Wednesday Sept 22, 2010.  NASA calls tonight a "super harvest moon" because autumn is beginning with a full moon.

I never really considered myself a summer-born baby, so it must be then that I just always identified with the fall.  I'm very glad for that because it's once again here, fall, my favorite season of them all.

The days will grow shorter, and the air will blow cooler.  It will be time to light candles, open the windows, walk with a brisk step, and prepare for the many holidays we celebrate every year during this time.

According to ABC News, the beginning of this fall is cause for a celestial celebration.

Tonight is a night of celestial coincidences. The autumnal equinox -- the beginning of fall -- comes at 11:09 p.m. ET, and for the first time in 19 years, it comes on the same night as a full moon, the one known as the Harvest Moon.

Native American tribes gave names to each of the dozen full moons of the year, and the list now is maintained by the Farmer's Almanac. The Harvest Moon is the one closest to the beginning of fall. It's time for the crops to come in. If you are blessed with clear skies tonight, you will see an unusually bright star right near the moon. It's actually not a star at all; it's the planet Jupiter at "opposition," coming closer to the earth than at any time since 1963.

There's no real magic to all this, just the bodies of the solar system doing what they do as they follow the rules of orbital mechanics. But there is a pleasant effect on us earthlings, if we pause to enjoy the combination.

I guess I've always had nice memories of the fall and rarely remember the onset of allergies and sniffles.  I remember eight years ago, when I just started my career in Missouri, sitting on the balcony of our apartment and looking out at the leaves changing colors.  There, the fall season really was fall!  I think of making potato soup so spicy your friends are in tears at the table.  I am reminded of sitting my then four month old by some pumpkins in October.  Back in college, a few freshman who just met went swing dancing together.  Later on the porch of a north Texas home, we assembled for a family picture and a visit to old stomping grounds became a time for friends to catch up.  Thanksgiving around the table, especially at your own home, is humbling.  The list goes on...

Fall is about family, friends and a refreshed sense of life all around.  It's just the best season there is and I can't wait to turn the AC off, the heater on, and bask in the sights, sounds and smells of the season.