autumn in ohio

Autumn was always the one time of year I missed Ohio. I missed cheering for my hometown high school football team. I walked my dog outside at dusk and thought of sitting by a bonfire with a thick sweatshirt and toasted marshmallows. I wanted to drive along a familiar country road, looking at trees full of colorful leaves for as far as you can see.

This year, I have the chance to do all those things. We have already been to one of our high school football games. The kids loved it! My mom is retired but helps out with the high school band so we can take the kids right down by the field. Lexa is mesmerized by the cheerleaders while Abe and Toby stare with wonder at the game and everything around them. We bought a fire pit for the backyard. The five of us had a blast burning hot dogs and making s'mores for dinner. I'm still waiting for the leaves to be at that perfect point of beautiful reds, oranges and yellows, right before they turn brown and fall off the trees.

Could I have found a way to do all these things in Northern Virginia? Yes. But it wouldn't have been the same... I didn't particularly care about Centreville's football team, I can't imagine the fire marshall would have smiled upon a fire pit on the deck of our townhouse, and there's something special about driving down a road where you can't see buildings for miles.

All this wonderful family fall fun combined with making some new friends at small group seems to be just the combination I needed to be slightly less whiney about this whole Ohio thing. So thanks, Autumn, you came just in time :)