Hope Springs Eternal

I like reading and writing of many different genres. Poetry is the exception. I don't like to read it, and I don't like to write it. I don't even like to teach it to my sixth grade students because I don't usually understand it very well. However, there are some poems that I do like. One line of poetry that I particularly like is Alexander Pope's, "Hope springs eternal." It is a pretty simple line that I interpret to mean that hope lasts forever in the spring. In the spring things are being reborn, there is a fresh start, and optimism is in the air. I take great liking to the line, especially as a Cubs fan; the season has yet to start, the team has yet to lose a game, and there is the hope and the optimism that this could be the year (although it never is) that they win the World Series.



But what about fall?



I love fall far more than spring. I love fall far more than any other season. It is a brand NEW school year with a FRESH start. Students going back to school are able to resume their friendships with their classmates that they may not have seen over the summer. Football is beginning! Playing football or watching football is and has always been (remembering back to kindergarten) at the very top of my list of favorite things to do. The weather is no longer blistering hot, but usually cool enough to be comfortable in jeans and a sweatshirt and sleep with the windows open. I could never live anywhere that did not experience the changing of seasons. I love fall.

High school football has started, college football starts in one week, and the NFL starts in two weeks!

Did I mention that this fall is going to be significant more so than most falls. And no, I don't mean that it is more significant than normal because the Iowa Hawkeyes are supposed to contend for the Big Ten Championship and possibly even the National Championship (although that is pretty significant!). This fall is significant because Amy and I are welcoming our first child into the world. Our first son is coming into the world. Ryne is coming into the world. And he is coming into the world during the fall (not to mention a fall when the Iowa Hawkeyes could be experiencing unprecedented success! Wouldn't that be great, Ryne born during a year that Iowa won a championship!). That has to be a pretty good sign of things to come!