It's over!

Washington state, fearing
diseases, outlaws pedicures
by dead skin nibbling carp.

I know, I know, it aint’t over til’ the fat lady sings, it ain’t over til’ it’s over, and all that, and I could be premature, but I suspect it’s over. The election, that is. At the moment it appears that if the election were held now Obama would win more than 330 electoral votes to McCain’s 165. It is difficult to see how McCain/Palin can make that up between now and November 4th. This is especially true as both McCain and Palin are being more exposed everyday for the frauds they truly are. Both of them have tax questions pestering them, McCain’s temperamental unsuitability for President is becoming more and more apparent, and Palin is learning that she can’t just “cute” her way to the vice-presidency. It appears that you have to know at least something to be VP and Palin is seriously lacking on that score. So now McCain will go negative, really big time negative, and it is going to be ugly. But I suspect that the uglier it gets the less he will gain by it. Yes, negative ads do seem to work, but probably not in a situation where they are obviously the last gasp of desperation. McCain/Palin will soon be history. It couldn’t happen to a nicer pair.

I have worried for some time whether it would be even theoretically possible for Obama to have any success as President, given the enormity of the task he will face. But it occurred to me today that if he does anything at all it will be a resounding success when compared to where we are now. It may be true there is no bottom line to how bad things can get, but in this particular case I cannot see how they can fail to get better. Bush/Cheney have come as close to destroying the U.S. in every respect as it is probably possible to do. We have no international credibility, our military is exhausted, we are in debt about as far as we can be, unemployment is rampant, millions are without health care, our infrastructure is seriously damaged, our educational system is inadequate, and our people are demoralized. It seems to me we can only go up from here. Obama has the potential to become a truly great President (a potential not even remotely shared by John McCain), but even if he proves to be only mediocre he will still be a hero when compared to what is. I have predicted for a long time that Obama would win in a landslide. I still think so.

Autumn has arrived. It is in the air and can no longer be denied. The dominant color here is green because of the preponderance of evergreens. The Ponderosa pines outside my study window are awesome giants to me, but only children among their own. There are Douglas fir, White fir, Lodgepole, White, and other pines, buck-brush, and other evergreen bushes, all of different shades and hues of this one basic and calming color. But here and there this remarkable expanse is broken up with patches of aspen, birch, alder, and cottonwood. The larch have not yet begun to turn and lose their needles that will soon cover the ground around them with that incredible and unique burnt orange of their spent season. Our countryside cannot rival that of New England, but it is quite beautiful nonetheless. When I look at the deciduous trees we have planted here at Sandhill I can witness autumn in all its splendor. The leaves are an unbelievable and stunning melange of color: bright yellows and fiery reds and shades of orange I am certain could never be artificially duplicated. The leaves fall silently, matting the ground with a kaleidoscope of colors that make your senses reel with pleasure and wonder. Our huge chestnut tree is a mass of yellow and greens fading into yellow. Soon all will appear dead, with bare branches against the snow, just as beautiful in its own way. And of course it is the opposite of death, being the very first beginnings of the life that is inevitably to come. Spring here is lovely also, but fall is my favorite time in spite of the ineffable sadness that always seems to accompany it. It is a time of great happiness as well: back to school, football, homecoming, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the anticipation of Christmas. What other season offers so much? The garden is finished and put away. The harvest is over, hay is in the barns, the squash are safe in the cellar, along with the carrots and beets and parsnips and potatoes. Beans have been canned, pickles made, tomatoes dried, canned, and frozen, sauerkraut begun, and enough firewood cut to last until spring. Now is the time to relax by the fire, read, and reflect upon the joys of life and nature. Paradoxically perhaps, autumn is when I feel the most alive, because it is then I think I understand and feel more in touch with the rhythms and profundity of life and nature. The years I spent in California were always unnatural to me, although of course they were every bit as natural as anywhere else to those who were born and raised there. I was not, and I missed the seasons terribly, especially autumn.

LKBIQ:
Fiery colors begin their yearly conquest of the hills, propelled by the autumn winds. Fall is the artist.

Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata