Veterans Day

Veterans Day. Heavy frost last night and even now - at 8:20 AM - it's in the low thirties. I noticed over the weekend that more than half the leaves have fallen to the ground. There are still a lot on the branches but most are down. Washed out oranges and burnt browns predominate the foliage colors. Some greens still. Some yellows. Not too much red. Even the pine are shedding about half of their leaves - needles. They do that every year, too. Despite their call to being "evergreen." If you look closely you can see many yellow pine needles on the limbs and many more on the ground beneath.

A lot of veterans have fallen over the years, too. Probably not half of those who served, but plenty enough. The Fall is a good time to have placed Veterans Day. To remember the fallen. Whether the wars were wise or foolish. Whether the soldiers enlisted or were drafted. Whether the fatal fire was friendly or designed to kill. Those aren't the point. The point is . . . the reason we have a Veterans Day is . . . some friends and lovers and neighbors of ours died. And we want to remember. Counting ourselves luckily among the alive still.

Korean War Memorial in the Fall
It would be nice if no one else had to hastily rush toward death for the benefit of stoking or easing the diatribe of the day. It would be nice to enjoy Fall for the season that it is without the extra fallen to remember.