“Mommy! Come see! Come see! There’s a red leaf on the tree!” That was what woke me up yesterday morning and here we are – October 1. Autumn officially started last month, of course, but for some reason it doesn’t feel like autumn until the leaves actually change color or we flip the calendar page to the month of October.
What a Time of Year
I love the autumn. It’s a welcome respite from the heat of the summer here in Texas. Though, I admit, we only had one really bad month of heat this year. September was very crisp and last week, our weather people were calling it unseasonably warm. Not really, but warmer than it had been. I want sweater weather. I want it to be chilly in the morning with that nippiness in the air. I want it to be cool and crisp until noon when it warms up just enough to take the sweater off. I want cool evenings and brisk breezes.
Yeah, I’m ready for autumn.
What You Can Do
The turn of every season means we begin to adjust our workouts, because we begin to adjust our schedules. Typically, we would be turning our clocks back this month, but thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, U.S. states that use daylight savings time have until November 4th before they will turn the clocks back an hour. But for our friends in the European Union, summertime period ends on October 28th.
Cooler days with the sun going down sooner mean that some people may taper off their outdoor activities in the evenings. Don’t give them up all together; you still need to exercise regularly. I know several people that buy three or six month passes to their gyms just for this time of year. If you do want to keep jogging or biking outdoors after dark, be sure to choose well lit paths in populated areas and to where bright clothing that lets you be noticed. Always carry your cell phone with you and be sure that someone knows where you are, when you left and what route you’re going to take.
October is a Big Month
We have a lot going on this month, we’ve got the “Walk to School” challenge this Wednesday, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Dallas also happens this month and finally, the big one at the end of the month includes Halloween – that means parties, decorations, trick or treating and more. We’re going to talk about kid fitness a lot this month, including how to teach them good habits so they don’t get overwhelmed with junk this Halloween.
Are you ready for autumn?