Something in the autumn
Our Yorktown, Virginia neighborhood, November 2008
There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood —
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time. — Bliss Carman
Autumn reminds us of the brevity of life as the lush blossoms of summer fade and die away, replaced by the dazzling final act of foliage that will soon be gone. The coming onset of winter can be depressing, yet somehow fall retains a unique splendor that makes it the favorite season for many of us. That first snap of chill in the air after the summer heat breaks, followed by the excitement of the harvest holidays and winter merriment, help to take the sting out of the months of cold that will follow.
Little advantages
London street scene, 2005
“Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.” — Benjamin Franklin
Just as it’s often the minor irritations that distract us and wear us down, so too the power of small blessings can transform our lives. The trick is becoming aware of them. Sunny weather, fragrant blooms, a cup of hot tea on a chilly morning, the delicious smell of food when we’re hungry…what little advantages are brightening your day today?
Promises to keep and miles to go
Muir Woods, Marin County, CA 2003
And miles to go before I sleep…” — Robert Frost
It’s tempting to be drawn into our own ruminations. Trouble can be an isolating experience, and solitude is a seductive force, both healing and dangerous. If we withdraw too long or too often from others, we neglect our responsibility to ourselves as well as to them. Most of us really do have promises to keep and miles to go, no matter how exhausted or discouraged we become.
How can we find the balance between contemplative, wholesome solitude and the daily activities that maintain the connections to others that are so vital to our existence? How can we discern whether a suffering person needs our company, our words or our silence? What are some ways we can be open to the help that others can provide?
How the light gets in
The Statue of Liberty as seen from the Staten Island Ferry, 2007
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in. — Leonard Cohen
If you can…
This is our older son, Drew, at Bodega Bay, CA, around 2002.
Lines from one of my favorite poems, If by Rudyard Kipling:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools…
An Invincible Summer
“In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.”
— Albert Camus
I took this photo in the garden at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, somewhere around 2003.
Defeat Despair 