Seasonal melancholy

I will always appreciate what the Midwest is able to display in autumn colors--the diversity of earth tones give me the feeling that I take part in bringing forth the harvest--if all I do is drive around the countryside to look at the corn and soybeans brought in by the combines. Combines, these behemoth machines that tend the fields like giant lawn mowers, give perspective of the magnitude of grain it takes to feed the earth.

I know that people flock to the northeast to see fall foliage each october, but I still believe that few places rival the Minnesota River Valley. The autumn view was one of the blessings of living in Mankato.

To see the leaves go away is a time of melancholy for me, for it is only a brief time that I experience such beauty and carefree temperatures. I raced around the blue highways in the tri-state area (Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota) trying to capture my own mental pictures of what a gift the seasons are in this part of the world--images that will carry me through the dark and dreary days of mid January-April. I hold on to these images along with the many hours I gaze at the white Christmas lights that hang from our back deck.

Melancholy is not a painful emotion--bittersweet it is. Sacred ground.

Elihu