So long, summer! Though I always tip my hat to greet the warmer months of the year, I genuinely look forward to autumn. There's something about the mornings becoming cooler and the trees shedding their leaves in a blaze of color that evoke a sense of welcome.

From the cool breezes on the coast to the amazing show of color north and west of us, North Carolina has given my family plenty of reasons to love calling North Carolina home each fall. You might be surprised to learn how many festivals and fall-flavored events there are within reach for a day or weekend trip from the Fayetteville area.

Without ever leaving home you can take in the North Carolina Fall Festival in Raeford, which kicks off a weekend of small town festivities on Oct. 17, with something to please people of all ages. If you're itching to hit the road for the weekend, you can take in the early color as you head for the hills the same weekend. The Apple Harvest Festival in Waynesville is one of the tastiest trips you can make, and the Fall LEAF Festival in Black Mountain will treat you and your entire troupe to the charm only a small mountain town can offer. If you're ready for the most unique festival of them all, you simply have to make it to the Annual Wooly Worm Festival in Wilkesboro at least once in your life.

Regardless of whether you go uphill, downhill or stay within a few miles of home, I hope you'll find a way to welcome the fall season. Embrace it and you'll find it's much more than a gateway to winter as it paves the way to shorter days and warm family celebrations.

One month-long celebration that is worth mentioning is Clergy Appreciation Month. October has been set aside as a time to express gratitude to some of the most selfless and underrated individuals you may ever meet. Too often relegated to someone we think of only on Sunday as we shake their hand and tell them, 'great message!' on our way out the door, most members of the clergy — pastors, ministers, deacons, elders — are frequently the first to respond to family emergencies from illness to injury. They bring us together as we start our journeys in marriage, and see us off as in death we do part.

I'd encourage you to take a moment to jot a little note of gratitude and send it to your pastor this year. And don't forget the youth leader. They gladly bear the burden of helping our children navigate some rough terrain in some of the most tumultuous years of their lives, and we need to show our gratitude.