Our Dark Fall

The fall season has always been the best for me – my favorite. The weather cools, the leaves change and blanket the yard, and the aromatic smells help ease us into winter. For almost a decade I enjoyed two fall seasons, first paddling in northern Minnesota and Ontario and then returning to Georgia for an “Indian summer.” It was a last hurrah before winter.

Fall has its own rituals: raking and burning of leaves, gathering firewood, making bonfires, and doing chores to get ready for the coming cold weather. Here at Potlatch it means all of this and more, for the woods take on a special magic. It is a time for taking long walks with the dogs, enjoying the fire at night, or simply sitting on the front porch watching the squirrels scamper about frantically gathering nuts.

This year something is different. There is a pall that affects almost everything we do, including the wonder of the season. It’s two-fold: the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and the 2020 presidential election, which literally is Armageddon, a battle between the forces of good and evil.

Yes, I can hear the critics say that I have misrepresented things and sensationalized the situation. And I do know that there are, in this case, “good people on both sides.” Further, some of my friends do not take the pandemic as seriously as I do, but most are much younger. However, this I know for a fact: the president has proven to be evil, and Joe Biden is a good man. For many of us, our belief in the decency of Americans will be tested on November 3rd.

The out-of-control pandemic will not be defeated anytime soon, as we all increasingly recognize. The stakes remain high, for if the president is re-elected there will be more of the same, a continued recklessness that fails to address the virus seriously. If Biden gains the White House, it still won’t be easy, but, at least, substantive efforts will be made to realistically shut down the virus.

Halloween will be scarier this year, and Thanksgiving will be limited out of fear of contagion. Unfortunately, this is a fall season unlike that of any we have ever experienced.