Summer’s End

Summer’s End

A light frost on the first day of Autumn - it’s as if nature has been told to follow the calendar! The garden has been put to bed. In the case of tomatoes that is literally true since the green ones lie covered and ripening under a blanket on the bed in our spare room. Just a few more projects and we can switch to keeping the wood fire burning and slowly consuming the fruits of our labour. I love autumn, still warm, awesomely beautiful, and for me, much more relaxing - the calm before the winter storms. I wouldn’t like to live in a place where the seasons run together with little change in weather. Here each season has its specialty, its own feel, its own joys, its own tasks. I welcome each one’s arrival and departure with equal pleasure.

The world continues to spin somewhat out of alignment. Opinions are so polarized these days, held so strongly that most folks seem unable to consider the possibility that their own beliefs could ever have a faulty base - inaccurate observation, lack of knowledge, insufficient or faulty information, propaganda. The global information highway ensures that we can always find print media, a newscast, a podcast, an official or a spokesperson that will support with true conviction any view anyone holds dear. But we are all susceptible to whatever our “trusted source” tells us, and all sources are biased. Even your own observations are biased because you see the world through your own upbringing, your culture, your education, your belief system. We end up hating whole groups of people, even nations, because someone says we should. All conflicts cannot be eliminated, some are even necessary. We are mere pawns in the larger ones but smaller differences can sometimes be settled, and others can be ignored. We are not all the same. Diversity is not a dirty word. And, though we may think so, we are not always right (even me).

Happy equinox!