October Moments

Every so often, you will have a moment in which all of life seems to be in per­fect har­mony. For me, Octo­ber has more of those moments than any of the other months. The cool air and warm sun com­bi­na­tion is part of it. Being the “pro­fes­sional stu­dent” that I was for so many years, it also car­ried the inten­sity of mid-term exams. It is the last of the sun’s dom­i­nance and holds the pos­si­bil­ity for early morn­ing frost. In some of the states in which I have lived, it was the month of the first snow of the sea­son.
Long sleeves feel good again. You can go longer between mow­ing the lawn. The hard­wood trees get their chance at some color. The sights and sounds of foot­ball (and a lit­tle dose of the World Series) recall all of the other autumns. It all cre­ates an annual com­pos­ite of good feel­ings. If there could ever be an eter­nal month, I would choose Octo­ber.
This month before the hol­i­days holds no oblig­a­tions. The air­ports are not as crowded. Most peo­ple are again teth­ered to the school sys­tem sched­ules — just enough to let the rest of us get around a bit eas­ier. We know they are tied to 8:15 and 3:30, and we step out of their way twice each day. Life some­how seems to be at its best. Octo­ber is the respite before the overly-busy hol­i­day sea­son.
The mys­tic within embraces all and calls it good. Our inner magi­cian knows life as magic. Octo­ber lets the imag­i­na­tion roam in quiet reflec­tion and pos­i­tive expec­ta­tion. This is the month for the imagery of cas­tles and secret forests. Imag­i­na­tion is stirred by times between and the length­en­ing night. The bluer skies, and that feel­ing when the first rush of the north wind hits you, acts as the trig­ger. A mix­ture of nos­tal­gia and grat­i­tude — fer­ment­ing through the sum­mer months — become the elixir of soul…a cham­pagne of delight.
This is a good day to ignore time. Despite the many demands, I think I will day­dream through the rou­tine ones — and maybe even can­cel some of not-too-pressing ones. My walks between build­ings will be a lit­tle slower today. I will not bother to focus all that much. I may even just stare at the phone when it rings, rather than answer­ing it. Octo­ber is per­fect. There is no sense in hur­ry­ing through it.