Fall here we come

Beyond the whole 'our half of the year' which has emerged due to the recent crazy in our grand nation, my preference for Fall is well known.  I'll admit, all the bells and whistles and fireworks diminish as the kiddos get older.  Last year, knowing that our boy would be getting married and moving on, was likely the last year for many of our little 'traditions.'  The fabled 'ghost runs', any of the boys tricks or treating, running about here and there for the youngest, are all pretty much history.  Truth be told, many of those likely outstayed their welcome, but our youngest was adamant about keeping things up - since that's what he saw his brothers doing.  Only when we explained they did it for him did it finally sink in.

Still, even before the boys came along, my wife and I had our traditions.  My first semester in seminary, 1993, saw the first of many autumnal traditions come our way. It was early to mid October and I had just finished midterms.  I was a bit nervous since in my younger days I was not the most serious student.  I suppose I was clever enough that I could snooze through most of school and get Bs or thereabouts.  If I really liked a teacher, professor or the subject, I typically got As.  But in seminary, specifically the academic track, I knew grades would matter, especially if I wanted to go into a doctoral level program. 

So I was finished with the exams, and a bit high strung about how I did or didn't do.  It was Saturday morning.  My wife and I were stumbling out of bed and she could see I was worked up.  So after waking ourselves and getting ready for the day, she suggested something that might help me unwind - Road Trip!  After all, I've never minded driving and even by then had logged many tens of thousands of miles on the old truckster. 

Never being near Louisville before, and knowing nobody within a two hundred mile radius - and being before I even had a personal computer, much less  the Internet - we weren't sure what to do.  So we decided to get in the car and just drive.  We would hit SR 64, then veer East or West.  We already had traveled east to see where our back home pastor had served when he was in seminary.  So we decided to go west, toward Indiana where my wife was born.  We stayed on SR 64 and just kept going.  

Battle of Corydon Park, as we first saw it

Since it was pre-Internet, we stopped at the visitor's center to gather up what pamphlets we could.  I noticed one for a small Indiana town called Corydon.  That was good enough for me.  We already started somewhat late, almost noon, and I wasn't sure of distances and drive times.  I didn't want to get caught out late in areas I had never been before. 

Turns out Corydon had a couple items of interest.  It had a small excursion train you could ride, and it had an out of the way park dedicated to the Battle of Corydon, a small Civil War action that happened in and around the town.  Being rather novice about the Civil War, it was new to me.  And that always makes me glad where history is concerned.

After our visit to the park, we took note of some of the other activities.  We decided to drive the scenic route through Southern Indiana.  Stopping at a Shell gas station, we stocked up on junk food that has become a sign for road trips in the Griffey house even to this day.  We passed through Leavenworth and saw the Overlook Hotel Restaurant where we would dine many times over the years.  We then drove straight through and enjoyed the company, the time, the relaxation, the foliage and the season.

On our way back, as it was getting late in the afternoon nearing evening, we stopped at an old roadside apple orchard market.  We picked up some Indian corn, a gallon of cider, some apples and a jar of pure honey and off we went back to the Gospel ghetto.  We did take note of a few things in the brochures from the visitor's center, including a little place to the west called St. Meinrad's Archabbey.  We would tackle that  and a few other objectives the next week.

When we got home, we stopped at a video rental store (heh), and picked up a couple VCR tapes, Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hallow and Halloween Haunts.  And lo, a tradition was born.  Over the years we would stack on a mountain sized pile of traditions - sometimes too many, as we tried to hold onto old ones for our youngest while accommodating new ideas and new ventures for our ever growing older three.

Many now will fade, as traditions always must. But I'm sure some will still abide with us, and who knows, we might add a few new ones as we welcome a new member of the family and begin a new era for our family life.  In any event, as I have written many times over the years, Fall remains, and will likely always be, my favorite time of year, whatever the traditions might be.  

Catching the momentum of our first seasonal traditions, we made quite an impression our first Halloween