A near-perfect fall Saturday

I know it's not officially fall yet, but last Saturday was as close as you can get to it this time of year.

With a high of 84 degrees and a low of 59, coupled with a nice breeze, my wife, Emily, and I woke up earlier than normal to go for a walk at the Music Bend Nature Trail, a picturesque path through the forest in east Tupelo.

After grabbing a bite to eat at Chick-fil-A and picking up groceries on the way home, we chopped up ingredients for potato-and-hamburger soup and threw it into the Crockpot.

Since it was the nicest Saturday we'd had in weeks, I decided that rather than watch Ole Miss football, I'd listen to it while I mowed the lawn. After finishing the front and back yards, I made it inside to see the last of the Rebels' 52-3 victory over Middle Tennessee State on TV.

To cool down, Emily and I grabbed a couple of drinks at Starbucks. I went with the pumpkin cream cold brew, which has a strong coffee flavor with hints of the pumpkin spice made famous by the coffee chain.

After another walk before sundown — because like I said, the nature trail is an idyllic scene this time of year with golden hour sunlight slicing through the trees and the crunch of the first fallen leaves on the ground underfoot — we returned home to a heavenly aroma wafting from the kitchen.

Six hours after the first ingredients were added, it was time to add a bit of milk, heavy cream and shredded cheese and enjoy a bowl of soup while we watched more college football.

Earlier in the week, we'd thought we might buy tickets for that day's Ole Miss game like we had the week prior. And while that certainly would've been a good time, Emily and I both agreed staying in Tupelo resulted in a near-perfect fall Saturday.