Change is Change and Peanuts are Boiled.

Labor day approaches and I am reminded of the arrival of my favorite time of year. Fall for me starts in September on labor day weekend although the hot Georgia summer doesn't give to the cooler weather until much later in October. I think back at Labor Day weekends of the past.

I remember sitting in the shade of a tree, hiding from the baking sun on the edge of a peanut field with my father. Opening weekend of dove season at noon and Larry Munson is on the radio talking up the Dawgs as they prepare to kick off another season of bulldog football. I sit and watch the power lines in the distance hoping a bird would be foolish enough to stop there so I could pick it off with my BB gun which later became a 410 shotgun and so on. Shotguns are popping off everywhere and I stayed pretty busy as my father figured he didn't need a bird dog as long as I can fetch birds. Snacking on boiled peanuts with an ice cold Coke was about as good as it got. Storm clouds march across the horizon like smokey giants as a welcomed cool breeze passes by in their wake. At the end of the day I would be slightly sun burned, filthy, and wore out. By the time I feasted on birds, gravy and grits I was ready for bath and bed. Good Day indeed.

Things are quite different this year. Some things have been different for a while. I now live in north Georgia and I wouldn't even know who to ask about getting in on a good dove shoot, which is harder and harder to find. Some things have just recently changed abruptly, offsetting the natural order of things. First, Larry Munson retired last year and as ridiculous as it may sound to some, it will never sound the same to me when I listen to Georgia football on the radio. This will impact the way I feel about labor day weekend. It may change the course of my direction. But it isn't the biggest loss for labor day weekend. My father passed away in December this past year. No matter if I was with him on the dove field as a kid or at home eating boiled peanuts in my own recliner, there was rarely a game day that I didn't speak with my father about what was happening at the game. We would rant about the coaches not having them prepared when we were not doing well and praise Old Glory when we were. Sometimes we would speak four or five times during the game and it was almost as if we were watching it together. I'm not sure how labor day starts this year without that. My father did solidify one thing in my life with his passing. It is the one thing that will help me to carry on. It will strengthen and guide me to provide these same memories for my own children. My father helped to solidify my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

I now move forward in my life as I walk with Christ and I know my only way to God and his glorifying love is through Him. With that, Labor Day will come and so will Georgia football. I will hopefully be by the TV but in the least by a radio listening to the next generation of Georgia Bulldog Radio. Maybe my kids will want to join me. One thing is for sure, I still have the boiled peanuts. I'll praise Jesus and I'll think of Dad and you never know, maybe it will seem like we are watching it together. Go Dawgs!