Festi-Fall
Syd on immersion excursions

There's just something about late September. The sluggishness induced by summer's heat is a thing of the past. Post-Labor Day routines have been established and are becoming rote. Whatever it is (or was) that invigorates the seasonal transition for you and your family - the new teacher, the onset of the new corporate fiscal year, the packing away of summer togs, the donning of a warmer wardrobe - face it, the novelty is gone. The bloom is off the rose.

Vacation seems millions of miles away...literally and figuratively. You're ready for an infusion of energy - a weekend getaway that revives with greater efficacy than your local oxygen bar. Sisters, you need to hit a fall festival.

Do one with your family. Do one with your spouse. Do one with your gals. As the succinct-yet-sage shoe manufacturer once admonished, just do it.

The options are as inexhaustible as your imagination and the whims of your companions. Consider the Lebanese Food Festival (Lewisville, Texas), the Dvorana Country Dance Festival (Prague, Czech Republic), the Big Bang Film Festival (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), the World Massage Festival (Pensacola, Florida), the National Folk Music Festival (Richmond, Virginia), the International Wedding Festival (Modesto, California), the Peanut Butter Festival (Brundidge, Alabama). The sky - and beyond, if you include the Las Vegas Paranormal Conference - is the limit.

Autumn leaves shouldn't be the only color you experience this time of year.