Fall

Carolyne Roehm, who wrote the just-published "Fall Notebook" (HarperCollins, 1999), loves fall.Melissa Davis, her co-author, hates it. Roehm says she always enjoyed the beginning of school, and has wonderful memories of the season's holidays and fall foods like apples and pumpkin pie.She loves to be in the garden this time of year. "As one gardens," she says, "more and more you realize what you do in the fall is just as important as the spring."On the other hand, "I truly hate fall," says Davis.

Temperatures are a little too warm for snow, but Maryland rarely goes a season without some of the slippery white stuff. So, it's best to be prepared. About 1 million people fall every year and about 20,000 die from their injuries, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Don't be too confident, says Mike Ross, author of “The Balance Manual” and exercise physiologist at Gottlieb Center for Fitness in the Loyola University Health System.

The last play Stephen Banick made ended with the freshman attackman writhing on the turf at Sea Gull Stadium in the fourth quarter of Stevenson's eventual 7-2 loss to Salisbury in an NCAA tournament semifinal on May 20. Banick, who led the Mustangs in goals (36) and points (63), crumpled to the turf with 12:31 left in regulation after planting his left leg behind the cage and had to be carried off the field with the lower portion of that leg immobilized in a cast. As traumatic as that scene was, coach Paul Cantabene said Banick could return to the field as early as this fall.

New York-- --Outside the tents at Bryant Park, the trees are bare; the wind whips through. It is winter, and it is cold. While most of us may be dreaming about the arrival of spring, it is Fashion Week, and fall has arrived. For eight days and nights, big names including Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs and Vera Wang are unveiling their fall collections. The mood this fall is a continuation of many of the elements prevalent in recent seasons. Femininity is a major theme. Ruffles, bows and lace are prominent accents.

It's important to always have something to look forward to in the garden, the failure of one thing redressed by the success of another," wrote Thomas Jefferson 200 years ago. This is especially true in autumn, when the end of the growing year is nigh. Fall conjures up asters and chrysanthemums and, more recently, sedum 'Autumn Joy.'It's hard to find more obliging plants than sedums. Still, they are an acquired taste. While lilies nod and peonies billow, sedums seem to hunker down in the garden, squat and solid.

When the legislature convened in January, it seemed all but certain that it would seek to address two terrible deaths caused in some part by failures of our systems to keep Marylanders safe. In October, Miriam Frankl, 20, a Johns Hopkins University undergraduate, was killed as she stepped off the curb in Charles Village by a truck careening up the street on what witnesses said was a reckless ride through the city. Thomas Meighan Jr., a Carroll County man who had been repeatedly convicted of drunken-driving offenses but was still the registered owner of the truck that struck Ms. Frankl, has been charged in her death.

It has been a great first few months for b's TV Lust blog. You've responded enthusiastically to our array of TV recaps. So enthusiastically, in fact, that we're expanding our coverage. On TV Lust , you've been able to spend the week catching up on shows such as "The Walking Dead," "Real Housewives of Atlanta" and "Glee. " You've followed the drama on "Gossip Girl" and cheered along to "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race. " Now we're looking for more recaps from our TV fan readers.

Every year, more than 2 million Americans fall and sustain serious injuries. Such injuries are a serious health problem among the elderly.

This is the last education page for this school year. The page will return when school resumes in the fall.

Florence Edna Matey The family plans a private memorial service later this fall.