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Kathryn Finegan Clark: By the Way -- Mother Nature sees us through

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I’m not sure I would have made my way through this post-election thicket of tension, caused by jarring pandemic death counts, dire economic conditions, nationwide unrest over the vote count, police brutality and systemic racism, had it not been for Mother Nature.

At the end, that fickle lady cast her own vote for generosity and served up a stretch of days of unimaginably superior beauty – the kind of glorious vision even the greatest artist could not completely convey. Wonderful warm, eat-your-luncheon-on-a-park-bench days, cool evenings and cooler nights with stars shining from clear skies.

Now as a I write this, the rain has stripped those gorgeous scarlet and golden leaves from the trees and left their bare branches silhouetted against a leaden sky looking as though they’re having bad hair days.

We needed that special Indian Summer to marshal our strength and recover a bit from this long, tense, disastrous, exasperating year where COVID-19 has stalked a million Americans and taken too many lives too soon. We’re nearing the end of the year, thank heavens, but the virus will go on and so will the political shenanigans.

Ours is officially a two-party house but this year and in the previous election my husband and I were united in a choice of candidate. No problem there, and even when our opinions and choices have not matched and our votes have canceled each other’s we have not fought about politics.

What’s been extremely annoying and adding to the general malaise is the double dose of phone calls, texts and slick campaign mail descending on our house and coming from both parties.

Not to mention the nasty and deceitful political commercials on television – from both sides – which have mercifully come to a halt. And then there are the pollsters, who probably got it all wrong because of people like me who refuse to provide answers and simply hang up. My husband is kinder than I am in that respect.

I think it has all seemed more invasive this year because many of us, stuck at home, have not really been able to escape. And home is where we’ve been, with few exceptions. There’s been no place to hide from politics, except outdoors, and even then political texts and phone calls have cut into the peace, and sometimes the parks have been so crowded, we’ve just given up and driven past.

What has helped to keep me sane amid all this is the natural beauty, that handsome setting provided by my neighbor’s long driveway leading up the hill, for example.

If I drive on the River Road toward New Jersey in the late afternoon, the sun pours over the side of the cliffs and sets the leaves on fire. Who needs a Christmas tree? I ask myself.

In Springtown, the trees hug one another over the road forming a tunnel of leaves, a happy place to pass through.

Every time I venture out it seems I heal a little more, come home a bit happier than when I left.

Lately I’ve pulled over to the side of the road to snap autumn photos more and more frequently. Occasionally, if no other cars are in sight, I’ll stop and take the photo right through the windshield.

I then text the photos to my daughter, who is living happily in San Antonio, but missing the blissful colors of her favorite season. I also usually mail her some autumn leaves and was surprised to learn another mother I know does the same for her Texas child.

For us, natural beauty matters.

kathrynfclark@verizon.net


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