Not Yet Autumn

Running
and
Leaves



As Summer into Autumn slips
And yet we sooner say
"The Summer" than "the Autumn," lest
We turn the sun away,

And almost count it an Affront
The presence to concede
Of one however lovely, not
The one that we have loved --

So we evade the charge of Years
On one attempting shy
The Circumvention of the Shaft

Of Life's Declivity.

- - Emily Dickinson


It is not yet Autumn but as I entered Lincoln Park this morning for my early Sunday run I noticed some fallen leaves on the running path. This can be taken as a sign of things to come, many more leaves and colors as October nears and the seasons begin to change. It suggests to me the Dickinson poem above as "Summer into Autumn slips" even as I reject the darker aspect of her vision. It also reminds me of my youth when I raked leaves in our front yard and my running days had not yet begun. Running is a habit I have acquired in my older "middle" age and now I do not rake but leave the residual pieces of the changing season at my feet as I run through the park. I hope I have many more days and seasons of running and loving and evading the "Shaft of Life's Declivity". The joy of the leaves on my path will add to the joy of running and living each new year.