Hogan: Soak in the wonders of autumn, as Old Man Winter awaits

Hogan: Soak in the wonders of autumn, as Old Man Winter awaits James Hogan I've traveled somewhat extensively, lived abroad and lived in Southern California for 16 years. Two of my six sisters lived in other states, one in New York City and Los Angeles, the other in Hoboken, N.J., while commuting to Manhattan. Eventually our paths led back to Pittsburgh. One develops some shifting perspectives living outside of home base. Summer in SoCal is perpetual, which can be nice, but also eventually leads to missing seasonal change. In NYC, Pittsburgh takes on a backwater, podunk flavor, mostly because Gotham goes 100 mph day and night. Most cities seem like small-town America in comparison. I love the summertime in Pittsburgh. I suppose I cherish it more because it is fleeting, will the chill winds of autumn always just off screen waiting for their turn as our life's backdrop. I also love it because Faithbridge maximizes the good weather to meet and engage our neighbors. That's essential. One isn't meeting many folks in Western PA in the second week of February. I also love it because baseball is by far my favorite sport, and baseball is a summer sport here. I once thought that must be true everywhere, but it's not. One reason so many more Major Leaguers come from Texas, Florida, Arizona and California is because different leagues cycle through different parts of the year, allowing good players to play and develop year-round. No one is taking outdoor batting practice in the dead of winter in PA, which makes it all the more impressive when a David Bednar or Neil Walker makes it to the bigs. One thing that surprised me living elsewhere is how many folks don't live and die by their local NFL team. When I moved to San Diego, I met a few folks who were diehard Charger fans, but the vast majority of folks seemed to pay only passing attention to the NFL. In some towns in the South, the NFL takes a backseat to college football. In Pittsburgh, folks are so emotionally attached to the Steelers that I used to dread dealing with customers after a Steelers loss. Folks were plain miserable on Monday as they headed off to work. The NFL's habit of giving the Steelers multiple late games throughout most seasons also meant folks stayed up late watching, then were too emotional to sleep in the wee hours, compounding the matter. Living where folks barely took note of their local team's losses was a bit of a shock to the system. I honestly thought the whole country must be nutty about their gridiron warriors. I'm a fan of the Steelers and hope they do well under new coach Mike McCarthy, but my enjoyment of autumn is barely informed by football. I love sleeping with the windows open, feeling the crisp fall air. The walleye and striped bass start gorging themselves on schools of shad in the rivers, making for great fishing. My sisters gather the family together for different pre-holiday shindigs now that most of the year's vacationing and beach time are winding down. Walks and bike rides are perfect in the fall, warm enough to not shiver, cool enough to not be drenched in sweat. Even just sitting around my son's fire pit in the backyard, moving nearer to or farther from the flame to stay comfortable, makes for a relaxing, quiet, often hilarious time of conversation. I probably throw my arms around autumn with an exaggerated gusto to some degree because it's not the crisp breeze of fall around the bend, but the frozen daggers of winter's cutting wind ready to send us indoors to batten down until the worst of it passes. Living where the weather is 'perfect' year-round is something to experience but, over time, I found that 'perfect' isn't really perfect, and variety, being the spice of life, magnifies the joy of great days. We're catching our breath for a minute at Faithbridge. The cookout season is done and our efforts will be focused on getting our new outreach center up and running. We'll be gearing up for more opportunities to engage the community and finding rich ways to pour into folks ahead of winter. Enjoy the wonder of autumn, friends, and if you need some help getting out to soak in the beauty before old man winter's grumpy self arrives, give us a holler. The Rev. James Hogan is a native of Stowe Township and serves as pastor of Faithbridge Community Church. His views do not reflect the views of the West Hills Gazette.