Are you ready for some football?

Fall is approaching, it is in the air. And that means many changes.

Caterpillars, in their furry little coats, can be seen out wiggling around. When my kids were young, one of the highlights of the season was to go hunting for the fuzzy worms. There was always a good colony of them down our lane. They used to beg to go down the lane often, each with his or her own jar, to transport any of the caterpillars they spotted. I recall one time, daughter Marissa had snuck up ahead of me and when I finally caught up with her she had a half a jar of the squiggly things. That was gross! Looking back now, it looked like appetizers for a Fear Factor episode.

For a child, that hunting is as big a thrill as what a sportsman gets during a hunt for ducks, deer and whatever else he would like to see hanging on his wall. Instead of mounting the little worms on the wall, kids place them in jars to never see them again - they either die in there, escape from the foil-covering or spin the silky cocoon around them, to hide, I suppose. I don't think any butterflies ever emerged from my kids' jars.

And fall means falling leaves. Growing up, we had three large maple trees in our yard. The big deal was to have all the kids in the neighborhood come over and rake leaves - again and again - as we enjoyed jumping in them. And at the end of the day, we'd burn leaves and roast hot dogs on marshmallows on old sticks we found laying in the yard.

I can still smell the smells of hot dogs cooked in the leaves giving off the toxic fumes!

Another thing that fall brings that I am not excited about - football.

Oh, the men in my household are in seventh heaven when this season rolls around. I have learned never to talk to them during the televised games or for goodness sake, walk in front of them, putting up a split-second barrier between them and the television. (What is the difference? Replays are made on every single move the players make.)

And if it's something important I need to say, forget it, unless I can catch them on the way to the bathroom during a commercial - usually on their way to get food!

If the "home" team is defeated, I've learned not to talk to the boys for several hours later, giving them time to absorb the loss before they think about anything else - such as this weekend when their beloved Hawkeyes lost to the Cyclones. Our ISU student Meghan made a quick surprise visit home on Saturday and was barely let into the door. Of course, she immediately, after hearing the outcome of the game, got on the phone to raz Jordan away at Simpson. He responded to her as you might expect!

I've never really understood the rules of football, even watching my two boys play on the high school teams. I've learned not to ask questions during these live games, either so I'll just continue to eat popcorn and cheer when a Rebel crosses the line for a touch down. I'm sure there's a lot more than that I really need to know!

Happy fall!