Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Into the Void -- On A Fine Fall Day

Of late it's been more like spring than late fall.

The temperatures have been pleasantly warm with a fine gentle breeze to keep them just short of perfect.

Unfortunately there has been no rain just the sun, wind and mild temperatures.

In no way does it seem late enough in the year to be thinking of the holiday seasons, though Thanksgiving is Thursday and Christmas just over a month away.

It shouldn't be deer season the way things feel. Instead, football season should just be starting instead of heading into the third week of playoffs.

Basketball season, currently underway, should still be a couple of months down the road.

On this particular fine late fall day, a day more in kind with Indian summer, it's quiet.

The only sounds are those of soft music in the background and traffic in the streets.

This is the kind of day poets go on and on about to the point of nausea.

It reminds me of days spent hiking in the woods in my youth, not hunting, just communing with nature and being at peace with the world.

I recall games of pick up football in the park where I grew up. It's a shame more young people don't take advantage of parks or open fields for such activities. Simple fun is the best fun after all.

And, if football isn't your cup of tea, a game of one-on-one basketball would do just as well.

This is the kind of weather that makes a person cringe at the thought of being cooped up inside. It's the type of day a person would be incredibly happy sitting under a tree or taking a long walk.

Work is an ugly four-letter word these days because of the weather. It's hard to focus on the task at hand, while looking outside at the beautiful blue skies, seeing the sun and knowing what a great day it is.

It's hard to understand why so many of our young people would rather stick their nose in a video game, or a computer screen instead of being outside or adults for that matter.

It is easy to imagine Adam and Eve strolling in the Garden of Eden on a day such as this, with the weather as temperate as it's been.

Unfortunately, all is not right with the world in spite of the area's climactic conditions.

No, man still has some unreasonable desire to destroy the planet with pollution, and himself with wars, crime and drugs.

Money is still more important than home and family. It's sad to think there are people who only want a family as a status symbol and not to help make them a whole person. But it happens.

People are starving to death in this and other countries, no matter how much we want to sweep it out of our minds.

Disease still runs rampant in third world countries, while there are millions of young people in our own land who have little or no access to medical attention.

Husbands and wives continue to abuse on another and their children. Inflicting physical and emotional damage on those supposedly loved.

Such atrocities shouldn't happen on days such as this, but they do.

Perhaps we should all stop what we're doing, take a deep breath, look around us and basically try and forget about jobs, petty complaints and other trifling problems.

Instead, open all of our senses, take in the splendor around us and begin showing more appreciation to those we love.

It's a thought.