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| Alverthorpe Park, Abington, Pennsylvania (October 2026) |
“I'm so glad I
live in a world where there are Octobers,” wrote Canadian author L. M. Montgomery
in Anne of Green Gables. October is when I am drawn to the outdoors, when
the crisp air caresses my face and sun radiates across a sky so blue you get
lost in it. Autumn is a time of renewal. Its natural beauty, a gift from God,
provides temporary respite from a troubled world. As the leaves change color,
they are reborn with a new sense of purpose before gently falling to earth and replenishing
the soil. If only life were so orderly and decent.
Two
Octobers have passed since I retired from my career as a lawyer and investigative
consultant. I hoped that retirement would slow things down, allow for more
reflection and make room for all that I overlooked in younger days. But time slows
for no one, and life continues to pass ever so quickly. Our children grow older
and lead independent lives. Memories of youth recede ever further into the distant
past. But I have no regrets. The increased freedom to pursue life on my terms,
to read and write and travel, spend time with Andrea and our respective
families and friends, to reflect and renew the body and mind, are everything I
hoped and imagined.
And
yet, I am distraught by the troubled state of our country and world. The sources
of my despondency are almost always the same. Every day I read of another
outrageous, previously unthinkable action or statement from the president of
the United States that makes me question the sanity and stability of the American
experiment. In the affairs of the nation, and our relationship to the world, we
have lost our sense of decency. Comity, diplomacy, social harmony, even common courtesy,
have become quaint notions of a bygone era. Kindness is out of fashion. We live
in an anything goes society, where the president enriches himself by doing
business with the world’s richest oligarchs while dismissing as irrelevant the struggles
of average Americans, the future wellbeing of the world, moral principle, and the
rule of law.
So
deeply has this president betrayed our friends and allies that a recent poll found
a plurality of Canadians currently consider the United States an “enemy country.” The president openly betrayed Ukraine, a democracy full of
courageous, valiant people fighting for their lives, and he actively aids and
abets our perpetual arch enemy Russia. He started a war of choice in Iran, one
of the dumbest and most strategically bankrupt conflicts in American history. Meanwhile,
our economy suffers the consequences, and there is no good way out. And every
day, the leader of the free world talks like an angry mental patient about almost
anyone in politics or journalism who refuses to sing platitudes of praise and
affection for his every misdeed.
For
the first time in history (well, the second counting Trump 1.0), we have a president
who appears incapable of saying anything inspirational, of elevating the
American spirit. Every president in my lifetime did so, until Trump. I frequently disagreed
with Reagan and the two Bushes, but they comforted us in times of distress and
uplifted our spirits. They respected the long arc of history and upheld our
institutions and constitution. Trump claims to love America yet acts and speaks
like a man who truly despises Americans, our system of government, the
progression of our history, and what the promise of America represents. The insanity
has proceeded non-stop for nearly two years. The sheer absurdity of it all, the
lies, the refusal to acknowledge incontrovertible facts, the insistence that
black is white, light is dark, has left the world exhausted and dispirited.
It
is times like these when it helps to set aside my newspapers and magazines, tune
out the noise and chaos, and turn my gaze to the world outside. It is easier to
do at this time of year, when summer gently gives way to fall, and the warmth
of September shifts to the gradual briskness of a cool October day.
When I was young, autumn represented
the start of a new season and fresh beginnings, when the end of summer brought the
anxieties associated with a new school year, the excitement of new and renewed
friendships, and the anticipation of another phase of life’s journey. Autumn brings
memories of walking with my dad to Palmer Stadium to watch a Princeton
University football game on Saturday afternoon. It reminds me of taking my daughters
on hayrides many years ago at the local pumpkin patch, drinking hot chocolate
and apple cider, roasting marshmallows at a campfire, and carving pumpkins at
the kitchen table.
Fall brings the crisp morning
air, the smell of burning leaves in the distance, the brightest morning sun of
the year, and the scent of cinnamon from the oven. It is when we transition
into shorter days and reflect on the coming of winter. It is when the World
Series stirs the dying embers of summer, and we realize it is time to rake the
leaves and await the return of spring, when we will again taste a glimpse of
the summer warmth.
There is nothing like a brisk
fall day on which to encounter renewed optimism and hope. As the leaves change
color and gently paint the ground below, as the first signs of frost blanket
the morning grass, the world is filled with wonder. In October, the lake near
my house appears calm and inviting to the flock of geese that congregate there before
heading south for winter. As golden leaves sprinkled with red and orange
reflect off the water, the world’s troubles temporarily fall away. It is a
reminder of human resiliency when times are tough, that we somehow find a way
to overcome challenges, establish new beginnings, and refresh our spirits.
America has done it time and time again. We will do so once more.
“Life starts all over again when
it gets crisp in the fall,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby.
For me, no season so greatly inspires the desire to open a new book, or perhaps
relive a classic like The Great Gatsby, as does autumn. This is the time
of year that invites long, reflective walks, a chance to remember the people we
have lost, the memories we cherish, to relive the past and appreciate the
beauty of what we still have.
Autumn forces us to appreciate the preciousness of life, for each leaf that floats tenderly to the ground has achieved what all of us desire, to grow old gracefully and leave this earth full of light and color and the recognition of a life well lived; a chance to replenish the soil and fertilize and nourish the tree from which life itself originated. If only humanity was so respectful of the cycles of nature and patterns of time. Maybe then, like the blue sky and bright sun on a cool October day, all of us would experience renewal and rebirth, and provide true hope of a less troubled and more optimistic world.
