Autumn has its secrets

Yes, autumn is marked by the bright displays of foliage that draw the leaf peepers north. But, in its first few weeks, before the leaves really start to turn, something else is happening. Almost overnight, nature’s profusion stops. . . and waits. For what?

As a kid, in late September, I always expected the change of the season would somehow make me wiser. And I still wonder if I missed something along the way. So now, more than a half century later, I find myself waiting with ever greater anticipation, wondering if this is the year. . . Or just maybe, all along, beauty was meant to be enough.