October 9th is here and I am reminded that tomorrow is a big day in my family. October 10th, 1978 was the day that I was hired at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale and the rest is history. Forty-five years ago I was a newly married young man who needed a job. SIU changed my life! Two weeks later MJ and I purchased a new LTD two-door automobile. I soon saw that the University was the place to make my career.

I endeavor to savor each day of autumn. I enjoy the changing of the leaves’ colors and their falling to the ground. There is a group of wild turkeys that I see almost every day. I fashion myself as a bit of an expert in the woods as I have been spending part of most days there. My plant-identifying AP on my iPhone has enabled me to know my surroundings. There is a rhythm to life in the woods. As I observe nature I realize how artificial we of the human family have constructed our lives. The woods exist as a lovely manifestation of God and it worries not if the oak is larger than the elm or how much money the sassafras have. The woods do not strive…the woods…is…

Fall taught me that we did not ask to come to our lovely Earth and have a unique and singular purpose for being here. Stress, fear, and heartbreak are our particular inventions when climbing the social, religious, or political ladder.

Good things come to those who wait has been said on occasion. Nothing could be more true in autumn. The falling leaves and the grey skies of winter and the brown leaves on the ground seem to say that all is lost and the end has happened…until spring…