Today begins a new month after the longest September on record. September, the first full month of the brand new school year, usually bursts into our lives with the comfort of a familiar routine and a healthy break between siblings.
September, you were not yourself this year and who could blame you. Go recover, next year is sure to be much different.
I am so happy to see you, October. You paint the leaves earthy colors and every year the return of their beauty takes our breath away. You blow them off their sturdy trees and the crunchy leaves feed the soil to unfold in soft radiance in the spring.
There is no spring without fall. No new leaves without the falling of old leaves. No green grass without the natural composting of winter. No return of the birds if they don’t first fly away. No Easter without Good Friday.
October, you set our hope on endings. Not to end all things, but later, in due time to begin the things that promise life. We have wandered far from your promise of life. We argue about politics and barely know the neighbor who lives beside us. We shop online and accumulate things and overcrowd secondhand stores. We stay committed to our political party even though we know how corrupt it is. We let down the kids who live among domestic violence. We accept that a woman must choose caring for family in place of pursuing a career she loves. We refuse to wear masks and create a crisis for long-term care centers in our own communities.
Oh my, October, there is so much possibility for you this year. So many endings, leaves that might blow off their trees, composting that will renew life if not for us, then for another generation in another spring much later.
Let’s begin.
Lisa Lewton 