In a few days, it will be autumn. I feel a little like I’m in a time warp. One day I was sipping cheap champagne and writing my goals for the year and the next moment I’m watching college football on the TV. Have I been sleeping?
I ran an errand today, the wind was blowing out of the northwest, and it felt cool on my face even though the sun was warm. There was an azure sky with billowy white cotton candy clouds and I thought to myself- this must be what Heaven is like.
Autumn days like this make riding around so enjoyable. I rolled down my window and let the cool air blow through what little hair I have left. I noticed that people were putting out decorations of hay bales, pumpkins and fall flowers. Before long, the trees will be turning every shade under the sun and we’ll start to smell burning leaves in late afternoon.
When I was in the Army in Panama, there were no autumns and I missed it. The barracks had no glass in the windows, only screens. When you got up in the morning, it was hot and steamy and it got worse as the day wore on. It was nice at first, but the longer I was there, the more I missed the change of seasons and it made me homesick.
My good friend Kirk Trachy was from New Hampshire and he missed fall even more. He lived in a state where you could leave your milk on the front porch half the year and it would stay colder than if you left it in the fridge. Autumn in New Hampshire is something to behold, I wish everyone could experience it.
We all got care packages from time to time. My folks sent candy, pictures, letters and other goodies. When Kirk received a care package from his sister in late October of 1972, it included much of the same as everyone else’s, but autumn leaves protected the contents. His sister had used the leaves as packing material.
Everyone gathered around Kirk’s bunk and marveled at the kaleidoscope of
color that filled that box.
People who have never spent time away from home might not understand how and why we were so affected by those leaves. But that gesture by his sister lifted the spirits of our entire platoon.
That evening we all went out by the ocean and started a small fire of driftwood and coconut husks and we slowly added those leaves. The aroma was heavenly and there on that warm Panama beach, it became autumn. We all lay back in the sand, closed out eyes and let the smell of burning leaves transport us home.
Since that year in Panama I celebrate every autumnal equinox burning a small pile of leaves. I spend some time reflecting and being grateful for the changing of the seasons.
