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By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

Have you had your first pumpkin spice latte yet? Have you tasted your first Little Debbie fall cake or pumpkin brownie? Have you thrown up the scare crow or the pumpkins in your yard?

If not, your time is coming. Fall is back y’all, and this year it brings a renewed sense of normal routine back to our lives.

As we get set to turn the calendar from September to October, the leaves are beginning to change and James Spann has made it clear we are set for our first stretch of cooler weather—sending everybody running to the closet for their sweater vest so they can get in line at Starbucks for that first sip of those fall spices we’ve become accustom to.

Beyond that, however, many will soon flood pumpkin patches at both Helena Hollow or Old Baker Farm, while cities like Alabaster and Helena are kicking it all off with the return of festivals such as Jubilee #1 and Buck Creek Festival.

It is one of the best times of the year to be outside, and after canceling many of those annual events last year due to COVID-19, almost every city in Shelby County is hosting some form of fall festival or event in 2021.

For me personally, the smell, tastes and sights of fall bring back one of the best memories of my life.

Not only did I meet my wife during the fall of 2015, but I went on to propose to her in a quaint cotton field at Old Baker Farm’s pumpkin patch on Oct. 28, 2017, before we then got married a year later on Sept. 29, 2018 at Douglas Manor.

All of that happened so quickly, and I wish I had been able to slow down time, but it created some of the most special memories of my life.

Now, each fall, we make it a point to go back to Old Baker to celebrate our engagement day and become full-fledged fall freaks.

One of the most special parts of living in Shelby County is what each community offers its residents, and even if you don’t want to drive to one of the pumpkin patches or local haunted houses, there is most likely a trunk or treat or festival happening right down the road from your house.

Last year was filled with questions of whether or not to attend events or cancel festivals, and while the choice is still there this year to not attend anything, we at least have options with more events happening this year than most.

Take advantage of that. It is the best time of the year, and it is the best time to create memories that can lead to annual traditions.