Football Season has Officially Begun?

Being in Tucson has really thrown off my internal clock. Has the new season of football officially started? Really???

When I think of the start of football, I think of grilling outside, cool evenings, and the beginning of fall. Fall means jeans and t-shirts, leaves changing colors, and football all weekend-long. Let me re-emphasize....fall means leaves changing colors.

There are no leaves in Tucson. Not real leaves anyway. Not big large leaves that turn from green to red or yellow then brown. Therefore, if there are no leaves, there are no leaves changing color and thus no fall in Tucson.

It was almost 100 degrees the last 4 or 5 days, with nighttime lows in the mid-70's. Even if that is a 30-degree difference, mid-70 is not what I would consider as "cool." And back to the leaf thing. We have no leaves here. We have needles. LOTS of needles. Pine needles, cactus needles, weird plants that I don't know what they are called with needles. Everything is pokey. Supposedly there is a change of colors here, at some point in the year, but I have yet to see it. I guess it's still too warm.

So hopefully you can understand why it is that I am so surprised it is time to celebrate the wonderful sport of football. I am sitting on my couch watching the first home game of the season for Green Bay, against Chicago. Not quite halftime, it has been an exciting game as the ball has been turned over multiple times. I am hopeful that the Packers will have a great season, even if I won't be able to see most of the games. It will be interesting how many games will be televised here in Tucson. It appears as though there is a strong fan base in this town...but that may not determine whether or not I will be able to observe my beloved cheesehead team.

Now I shall turn my attention to the game....as I slice up some apples and turn down the A/C so that it feels a little more like fall...