By my reckoning, October is life's great equalizer. Rich or poor, powerful or powerless, October doesn't care. October is going to change the world, whether any of us like it or not, ultimately reminding us that we are not, in fact, in charge. I will readily confess to having a checkered past when it comes to the month of October. This is something that I can back-up with over a hundred blog postings on the subject of this month.
Anyway, in spite of past experiences...or maybe because of them...I admire what October stands for in the cycle of life.
Life just gets tired, in part because nothing gets to last forever. All that happened in the Spring and Summer, all of that growth, comes at a cost. In order to eventually grow again, life needs to take a pause. October is that pause.
There are a bunch of other non-mock-philosophical reasons why I really want to love October.
First, I love the weather. The temperature is just right. There is nothing better than a cool October breeze, especially after a summer where winds were more like convection oven currents than cooling events.
Second, I confess to liking Halloween. Not necessarily the trick-or-treating part, but just this notion that for one day out of the year, the things that I found scary as a kid were somehow rendered temporarily powerless.
Third, there is just something wonderful about falling leaves. They have this kind of special smell, especially as you walk through them, shuffling your feet along the way.
Finally, I'm not the biggest fan of really cold winters, so October provides this kind of window that allows us to get ready for what's to come. For me that means getting the yard ready, trimming trees, and cleaning/putting things away.
Here's to hoping that all of us learn to appreciate October. Especially me.
