To the autumn weather.

If you are a couch potato watching football every Saturday, Sunday, Monday evening and Thursday evening, then you better not be complaining when four or five months of wintry weather waltzes through our neighborhoods. The same goes for any overboard TV watching. The weather this month is about as perfect as it gets for T-shirts and blue jeans. There are a few mosquitoes near rough landscapes, but otherwise it is a good time to soak up the sun and be outside while we can.

Let’s see people riding bikes, playing golf, taking walks, enjoying backyard fires, grilling, playing catch or even working on the yard. The first reported snow last year, even though it was a light dusting, was Oct. 24. And daylight savings ends Nov. 2. The darkness arrives, and by January we have cabin fever all over again. So don’t so quick to become a shut-in just because it’s past Labor Day. The sun doesn’t set till 7 p.m.

 

To the end of milkmen.

Delivery of milk to the doorstep has had a long and slow decline in America. The occupation had its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s, and even former Gov. Tim Pawlenty is the son of a milkman.

But as grocery stores grew in size to offer one-stop shopping and as consumers had more and better refrigerators, the need for deliveries directly from the dairies declined. What’s more, with greater numbers of women entering the workplace particularly from the 1970s onward, there was no one home during the day to collect milk from the doorstep.

Despite it all, some dairies consolidated and managed to keep dairy deliveries going, and Sampson Dairy Foods was among them. The dairy and its milkmen closed its operation early this month, signaling the end of what was once a less-complicated era in American history.

 

To Adrian Peterson.

As great as it is to see Adrian Peterson run the football over would-be tacklers, the star running back made an unacceptable mistake in beating his 4-year-old boy with a stick and causing open wounds. His season in the NFL ought to be over.

But should he ever suit up in a Minnesota Vikings jersey? Some people say never again. We wouldn’t go so far as to say that because even famous athletes who mess up — whether they are outstanding or mediocre in their sport — deserve second chances. The next court action will determine whether Peterson was misguided or reckless in his action. We cannot pretend to know, but we don’t doubt that Peterson loves his children. We are tremendously disappointed in him and agree with the massive outcry, but it is the kind of situation where we expect the young father to learn from his error and come out a better parent in the end.