How can you tell it's fall in Florida?

The Jaguars,  high school games, and the Gators

football tell us it's fall in Northeast  Florida

(click on a photo to enlarge)

   This first week of October, it feels like fall in Northeast Florida.  At last we have cool mornings and pleasant days with low humidity.  It is not over 95 degrees anymore!!  We only hope the coolness is here to stay.  This is a first sign of a Florida autumn.  We don't have colorful leaves or apples ripening, but we do have some signs that the hot days are winding down.
    The greatest indication is that football has started.  It may feel like 100 degrees in the sun at Everbank Field when the Jaguars play, but we wear sunscreen and know that fall is here anyway.  The UF Gators and the FSU Seminoles are on their fields, and high school rivalries are re-established.  There are other signs and we observe them closely:

Oranges on the tree are beginning to change from green to orange.

Fig tree leaves have turned brown and are covering the

ground.  Most deciduous trees do this without much color

 between green and brown.

Wild beauty-berries, much loved by some birds, have turned

 purple and live up to their name.

We decorate our doors with artificial

autumn leaves.  

A sure sign of fall is displays of both Halloween and

Christmas decorations next to each other in stores.

And finally, the ducks have returned to the pond.