Last Saturday, we went to a Temple Owls football game. It was a beautiful Autumn afternoon, the sky clear, the sun shining, and 
temperatures in the upper 70s. It occurred to me that this time of year is considered a season of endings. The joy of summer fun 
has come to an end. In the Fall, flowers wither and die. The darkness grows longer with each day. Quiet comes to the world.

Yet as I sat enjoying the game, I didn't feel the remorse from the loss of Summer. Here in the full display of the afternoon, 
passion and youth flourishes. Young men running onto the field of play, urged on by the marching band and the colored banners of 
the home team waving high. Football is a demonstration of life and vitality that is the recurring Autumn ritual in America. This 
season celebrates the richness of life. All the things that have gone on before joined in harvesting strength and athleticism.

I don't find Fall as a sad time. It's a time of gathering the richness of life. Every year in the academy, we harvest the growth 
and renewal of the past. Rising juniors become seniors. In a few short months, seniors will challenge the world in the Spring of 
adulthood. The freshman eagerly share their past experiences with new friends.  They begin their journey away from home into the 
world.

For many years I greeted the students with instruction on ways to explore the resources of the library. At each level in their 
academic life, they face increasing challenges. The educator matches their needs becoming more in-depth and specific. Each Fall 
Semester challenged the students and instructors to go deeper to develop something enduring.

Maybe that is what this time presents to us. It is not darkness and decay. It's life enduring and deepening. It is the richness of 
life coming to fruition. The harvest begins. The bounty of the Spring and Summer enriches our lives and gives us what we need to 
continue to grow. Autumn is the joy of contentment.

I have entered life's Winter age. Bones ache. Muscles cry out in complaint against my Spring and Summer chores; the remembrances 
of the past comfort my journey. I look back now on September and October with a remembering thought of all the rich things Fall's 
harvest has given me. Friends, family, and life's experiences fill me with 
all the bounty of life.

Autumn has, as Eiseley wrote of the 10th month:
"October has the heart, no more dark things
  Cry in the blood, the quick impatient storms
Are all gone past, and with them all high wings.
  Clear in this autumn quiet something forms
Something to last...'




Winter has its charms, as well.