Each year, especially as I age, fall has continually been my favorite season. I know some would argue spring is the best with new blooms and colors popping up. It’s especially true in a state like Colorado where the mountains and fields are better than a painting.

However, fall is also about starting new. I love the prospects and traditions that come with the fall season.

Anyone who knows me will not be shocked to know that one of my favorite parts of fall is Friday night lights. Some know my journalism career started in a high school classroom when the instructor asked the room if anyone understood how football worked. I raised my hand.

That moment of raising my hand led to what can only be described as shaping who I am today. I had always liked writing, but it was on those fields every Friday night that I realized my true love for writing.

I started covering as much football as I could in high school, in college, and at the start of my professional career. To this day, I am still in contact with, or keep up with, some of the players I covered in those days.

The relationships I formed in those years covering the gridiron are some of the most treasured in my life and hold a special place in my heart forever.

As I grew as a journalist, I eventually began covering politics, investigative news and corruption. While similar to sports — not always as treasured. Eventually, I moved into management, which meant very little sports coverage.

Today, I still love high school football. It’s still the purest form of the sport and it’s one that truly can bring a community together in support of the local team going for state. In our own south metro area, there’s some talk that Cherry Creek has the goods. We will have to wait and see.

Besides high school football — I also love Sundays in the fall. I will watch the NFL all day. I am a Dallas fan who watched the Cowboys build a dynasty in my high school days. As an adult, after two decades, I am clear that that team is who it is, and it is not about winning.

Cowboys aside — I love the game of football. The strategy, the competition and, again, the fact that it is a tradition in this country — a tradition that brings so many together at stadiums, at family dinners, and spurring so many of the traditions in my family that I love.

Fall is also the start of the new school year. My three children recently started their journeys into new grades. My daughter is now a senior. Wrapping my head around the fact that she is a senior and has turned 18 is still tough.

When my fifth-grade son came in the first week of school saying he had the “most amazing day,” it was a special moment that we only get at the start of the new school year.

I wish I could say my stubborn second-grader had the same approach — but he’s a bit more defiant and has made it clear he’s smart enough and is only going to school because I make him. Still, a good memory to have at the start of a new school year.

From new football seasons for teams across the county to the new school year and adventures for families — fall is when it all happens.

Thelma Grimes is the south metro editor for Colorado Community Media.