The many-hued miracle of autumn is, once again, seducing families to head to the hills and countryside to see nature’s glory on display. The colors, the crispness in the air, the crunch of millions of spent leaves underfoot, more satisfying than splashing in a puddle after rainfall. Nature has a timetable. Every year the same. Every year as eagerly anticipated as the year before, and the year before that, and . . . I wonder how many photos have been taken of trees during their annual, choreographed preparation for hibernation. A recently seen quote says: ‘Sunsets are proof that endings can be beautiful, too.’ The same could be said for this season we’re in.
And nature’s schedule, it seems, is completely undisturbed by manmade drama, media storms included. At their appointed time, politicians prance loudly onto the public stage, politicking and posturing and promising, then fade to the gray scale of memory. Meanwhile, green leaves turn yellow. Fiery debates, rife with apocalyptic thunderings, briefly rivet the imagination of audiences. Other leaves turn orange. Opinion ratchets up to Alpine heights with denunciations and warnings and finger pointing. Meanwhile, leaves are silently turning ochre and rust and red. The heated realm of election speak reaches fever pitch. Leaves serenely wafting to the ground form their autumnal carpet – to the delight of children of all ages.
Soon, water cooler debates will turn to the sports team ‘everybody’ is watching, who’s got the best player, what coach needs to be fired, the latest astronomical signing contract – all with their share of good-natured trash talk. All in all, a much friendlier rivalry than the one preceding. And forests and hillsides lie stilled in their dormant winter splendor.
Of course, on the doings of humans, there will be the usual, ongoing sniping in the halls of power, once again feeding the media with fresh headline fodder. But, in one throne room, no discord enters. There, there is only worship and praise and celebration. There, the Power above all powers, supreme through all eternity, still rules, still judges, still invites us to the quiet. PD
