We are getting into the best time of year with cooler weather and crisp days that give a bit of excitement — because it feels like college football and fall festivals. Even though it is the end of the growing season, everything from plants to animals seems to enjoy a break from the oppressive heat. Growing up on Montrose Drive in Gainesville, Saturday mornings were filled with the distant hum of leaf blowers throughout the neighborhood as everyone tried to "dig out" from all the fallen leaves.