Today is the first day of fall and, here in East Tennessee, it really feels like it.
We have had a particularly brutal weather year in the Tennessee Valley – from a harsher than normal winter to bouts of severe weather in the spring to a blazing hot summer.
Autumn is a welcome respite.
Fall is my favorite of the four seasons and I’d say most East Tennesseans would agree. We’re usually blessed with amazing weather here from mid September to mid November (and sometimes beyond). Our days are graced by comfortable temperatures and our evenings are enveloped in crisp, cool air. Electric blue skies frame a dramatic splash of colors ranging from warm amber to fire engine red.
I often tell folks – particularly those who have relocated from other parts of the country to live in East Tennessee – that our autumn is the payoff for surviving the ‘long hot summer.’
Our great fall weather brings other seasonal treats to us: from foods – pumpkin break, cider, chili to activities – fall festivals, hay rides, hikes and Friday night football.
In general, weather is a great topic of discussion for East Tennesseans (Maybe it’s that way in other parts of the country too?). If you step on an elevator, it’s likely that someone will mention the weather:
“It’s gonna be another hot one today?”
“Is it supposed to rain?”
“Did you get that storm last night?”
I’d rank it right up there in the Top 3 elevator topics along with high gas prices and any University of Tennessee sports topic (ranking in order: UT football, UT Lady Vols basketball, UT men’s basketball, All other UT sports).
Lots of folks will ask you, too, if you’ve seen (or heard) the forecast. At that point, you’ve become a deputized citizen meteorologist.
“Yeah, I think it’s a 30% chance of rain.”
“Think we may get some snow.”
“Sunny. High of 70. Low humidities. Blue skies.”
That’s my favorite one, of course, and it’s a hallmark of fall in East Tennessee.
As this season began to make its arrival, I saw a majestic web for a barn spider just outside the front door (just to the right). And, though my wife, Lisa, may not like to hear this, it is possible the return of fall will also necessitate the return of my cache of aluminum pie pans.
Each of the last two falls, our house – and its cedar siding – has been attached by a territorial downy woodpecker. In both cases, the bird was able to drill a fairly significant hole. Fortunately, I read online that they are repelled by hanging, dangling and wrangling aluminum pie pans.
I can only imagine that some suspicious neighbor wonders if the pie pans are the part of an autumnal equinox ritual around the Gary household. Nothing of the sort. It’s just that I don’t want to try to patch woodpecker holes for a third straight year!
And the good news is the pie pans are usually gone by Thanksgiving!
Speaking of Lisa, were it not for a subtle miscommunication, she and I would have been married in the fall. We both secretly preferred an October wedding but each though the other preferred spring. Thus, our anniversary is celebrated on April 19.
But in the fall, we celebrate life – a wonderful time to be outdoors and enjoying all the best that this region of the country has to offer.
When our kids were little, they learned a children’s song that went something like this: “It comes after summer and before the winter, it’s the fall, it’s the fall, it’s the fall.”
So happy to say that line each year and officially declare that it’s that time again: “It’s the fall, it’s the fall, it’s the fall.”
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