Hope

The chilly blast of northerly winds fast upon Halloween is giving us a hint of the winter days ahead. This year’s crop of acorns is heavy and the sound of them dropping is reminiscent of distant rifle fire. Fall is a time for reseeding of lawns, bulb planting, and leaf raking.

Many years ago autumn had a special aroma that of burning leaves. Nowadays leaf burning is forbidden in the interest of clean air; it’s a loss that is not worth the gain. Fire danger to the neighborhood might be a more serious consideration, but the problem was not framed that way. The immense piles of leaves were havens for children playing outside, running, jumping, and sinking to the bottom were pleasures youngsters can’t even imagine let alone experience. Pedophiles and child killers appear to be lurking everywhere now, taking some of the fun of growing up away.

Even the simple act of walking, unescorted, to and from school is an activity that has disappeared. Putting on one’s stocking hat, a warm jacket, lunch bag or box in hand then setting out on the adventure of walking through the neighborhood to school is not going to happen very often.

Each fall and winter we think of things past and look forward with hope to spring and summer, it’s a cycle that can’t be broken.