The brats were hot and the drinks were cold and really, that’s about all you can ask for at a tailgate party.
By the way, as far as I could tell, there were no “tailgates” to be seen at the tailgate party I was at Saturday afternoon, but it was called a tailgate party nonetheless. I guess I can see that. I mean, “tailgate party” rolls off the tongue much easier than “drinks and brats before the football game” party.
The origin of tailgate party (I think) can be traced back to the days of the Roman Empire, when wealthy Romans would gather in the parking lot of the Coliseum before a lions/Christian match, eating ancient brats and Caesar (ha) salad. These gatherings, known as “chariotgate” parties, would start days prior to the match because, let’s face it, your typical lion/Christian match didn’t take very long.
The tailgate party I attended Saturday was nice, but most tailgate parties are. Especially tailgate parties in the fall. I have participated in tailgate parties in the summer before Kansas City Royals games (which actually are not much different than the Iions/Christian matches of ancient Rome), but a tailgate party in the summer is just not the same as a tailgate party in the fall — or almost in the fall.
To me, a tailgate party on a warm, sunny day in the fall has a sense of urgency to it; a sense that warm, sunny days won’t be around much longer, so they should be enjoyed, they should be savored.
I know that fall officially began on Monday, but the tailgate party I attended on Saturday, to me, had the same sense of urgency. October is just around the corner, which means that November and December are one corner closer. I know that a time will come in December when I will think back longingly to the tailgate party I attended this past Saturday.
That’s the thing I love about fall. Each nice day is to be treasured. Each warm, sunny day becomes an excuse for a party, an excuse to get outdoors one more time because by tomorrow, it could be snowing.
The weather folks say that it will be sunny and warm for most of this week, and that’s nice, but don’t be fooled by that. We are getting to the bottom of the warm-and-sunny-day barrel. We are getting to that time of year when there are more warm and sunny days behind us than in front of us. So we should get out and revel in every one of those warm, sunny days.
I think a lot more about fall now than I did when I was younger. Every so often, while I’m walking my dog around our neighborhood, I’ll notice another sign that fall is on the way — the cooler early morning temperatures, a tree with leaves starting to change colors or a pumpkin on a porch — and I’ll think about falls of the past. Then I’ll think about falls to come. I’ll think about the falls my wife and I will spend driving our 10-year-old daughter, Emma, from activity to activity. I’ll think about the falls when Emma will drive herself from activity to activity. And I’ll think about the falls when Emma will be living somewhere else thinking about her own falls — past and present.
On those rare mornings when I think about falls gone by and falls to come, I’ll realize that there are more falls behind me than there are in front of me. So, I remind myself to enjoy each one. I remind myself to notice the little signs that fall is near and to savor those little signs.
I don’t, however, enjoy or savor the roughly 1.5 million leaves that fall likes to drop in our yard. I mean, hey, I may get wistful every now and then, but I’m not a total moron.
I do, however, enjoy tailgate parties on warm, sunny, almost-fall days. I do enjoy listening to Emma and her friend Katie talking about non-football-related topics on a Saturday evening while they sit next to my wife and me in a stadium watching a football game.
And I do enjoy thinking about those wonderful, warm sunny fall days to come.
Local News
Mike Pound: Tailgate party by any other name
Every fall day — past and present — is to be treasured
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Mo. optometrist filed $40 million refund claim
A southwest Missouri optometrist who filed a tax return claiming a $40 million refund has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.
-
Okla. receives waiver from No Child Left Behind
Oklahoma’s top education official reacted with glee Thursday with the announcement that the state is one of 10 states being granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law that requires students be proficient in reading and math by 2014 — but focused on getting students to “just pass the tests.”
-
Kan. House approves bipartisan redistricting bill
Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts.
-
Fugitive in 1993 British heist arrested in Ozark
A man suspected of stealing about $1.5 million from a security van in England in 1993 has been arrested in southwest Missouri.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
