John Walker
Opinion Editor
Fall is a time of year I love more than any other. Not just because of the leaves changing and the wet weather finally showing up. Those are a given. There is something very unique about the fall season here in Murray I can’t put my thumb on just yet.
Aesthetically there is a complete difference in this town than other communities I have lived in. Maybe it is the amount of green space or the bizarre weather that is so prone to the region.
Fall is historically the last time before winter we have to appreciate the earth and the life of the natural world, with the harvests coming in and the traditional practices of canning or smoking tobacco coming around.
This is a time of many different types of celebration. It is also a time of reflection, with one of our most venerated holidays following at the end of October. Even if Halloween has been commercialized beyond the point of good taste, the roots lay in a much deeper understanding of how we should remember those who came before us and their importance in our world.
After that we celebrate the importance of those living around us and the bountiful fruit of our labor through the year. The giving of thanks is known around the world and helps us understand winter’s coming promise of death in nature.
As a kid I remember jumping in the leaves after hours of raking. My sister and I would throw the leaves in the air and crumple them up over our heads to the dismay of our parents. It seemed to be the one time of year everyone was at ease and not worried about what was going on in the world.
That might have been the complete obliviousness that comes with childhood. But looking back I was glad to have it. There were no primaries or elections in my world.
At school the colors would change from bright greens and yellows to earthy browns and reds. The teachers knew how to keep us from wanting to stay in the classroom. Surrounded by all the seasonal decoration I only wanted to run outside and see the changing world one leaf at a time.
Today I cannot say I am much different. The fall is a time of retreat into our deepest self.
We don’t have that strive for inclusion we get on cold winter nights and certainly aren’t overwhelmed as we are on the hottest summer days.
Like every other season in our temperate climate I know this fall will end. But this inevitability allows me the will to take full advantage this time of year. The reader can rest assured no day will go wasted in this greatest of seasons.
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