There is a distinct feeling in the air.

The days are a bit cooler, aided by periodic breezes flowing over the area, things are a bit more comfortable and the dreaded “heat index,” which made everything feel hotter than we wanted it to be, has, at least for now, disappeared from the weather forecasts.

Fall in the South, especially the Deep South, is a special time of year. The mornings are cool and the days gradually warm up to temperatures in the 70s and 80s, allowing us to continue wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts up until mid to late October and sometimes even into November. I remember attending a football game in Tiger Stadium in early November wearing shorts, which is why I never put away all my summer clothes for winter.

There are some areas of the country that don’t get that luxury. I have a brother-in-law in Vermont who complains that the region doesn’t really have a fall.

“We get our six weeks of summer and then it’s winter,” he once said.

Of course, there are other things going on in the fall besides the weather and football. Fall is usually a time for county fairs, festivals, flea markets and other events.

Locally on Oct. 1, we have the Old Court House Museum’s annual Fall Flea Market where people can get out around the courthouse square and hunt for treasures, values and Christmas gifts for family and friends, and Vicksburg Main Street’s 12th annual Bricks and Spokes bicycle ride.

Bricks and Spokes gives cyclists the opportunity to cross the Mississippi River over the Old Highway 80 bridge and follow courses that will take them to the Southern Heritage Air Foundation Museum at the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport in Mound, La., tour Madison Parish, La., Vicksburg and the Vicksburg National Military Park.

For folks who prefer to hit the streets running, there’s the Over the River Run on Oct. 8, which is a race over the bridge, and Vicksburg Catholic School’s Spooky Sprint on Oct. 29. The Over the River Run is a 5-mile race or walk, while the Spooky Sprint is a 5K run/walk. Both races have a 1-mile fun run. I can’t speak for others, but as a former short-distance runner (high school) I never found running a mile to be fun.

So now that I’ve finished the lineup for the area’s major fall events, there’s one announcement before I wrap this up and cut my usual weekly discourse a bit short. The autumnal equinox, which I guess some folks might call the official start of fall, is Thursday, which means we have less than a week to get that final swim, work on that tan or have one more summer barbeque.

Here’s hoping you had a good summer.