DAILY DIRT: It’s that time of year when ‘life starts all over again’

Daily Dirt for Friday, Oct. 27, 2023

As hard as it might be to believe, November is right around the corner … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 765 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Late this week, it became obvious the true temperatures and colors of autumn were rapidly approaching.

More and more leaves are collecting in the front and back yards.

Those evening forecasts from my favorite weatherman, WGEM’s Brian Inman, are now mentioning temps in the 40s.

And hoodies have now formally replaced windbreakers as the outdoors covering of choice.

Here are a few thoughts that capture the season we are now embracing, and what comes next in a few days when November officially arrives on our calendars:

“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, American essayist.

 “The wild November comes at last beneath a veil of rain … She has but one short moon to live and she must live alone.” – R.H. Stoddard, American poet.

“How sad would be in November if we had no knowledge of the spring.” – Edwin Way Teale, American naturalist and photographer.

And last, but hardly least …

“Autumn. The greatest show of all times.” – Mehmet Murat Idan, Turkish playwright.

2. We came across some intriguing license plates over the past week in West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri:

NAVAJO 3

HOPI 2

UGO IGO 3

DANCY

1 NAVY

There were no changes in our medal-worthy standings for the year:

Gold medal: BE A BETH.

Silver medal: AX SHUN 4. 

Bronze medal: U BABE.

(2022 champion: IMDUMB.)

3. This week’s top picks for the NFL:

New England (2-5) at Miami (5-2): Last week saw Pats coach Bill Belichick get regular-season win No. 300. He’ll have to wait at least another week before he reaches No. 301. Prediction: Miami 42, New England 17.

Philadelphia (6-1) at Washington (3-4): The Eagles have the best record on the NFC, and not even the latest edition in this longstanding rivalry will threaten that standing. Prediction: Philadelphia 38, Washington 21.

Cleveland (4-2) at Seattle (4-2): This might be the game of the day on Sunday. The difference will likely be the Browns’ outstanding defense. Prediction: Cleveland 24, Seattle 10.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — I heard an interesting statistic while watching some of the early season NBA games this week: The Cleveland Cavaliers led the league a year ago — in dunks. I didn’t even know anyone kept that stat.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He leads MRN in dunks…of donuts.