Fall has always been my favourite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.
Lauren DeStefano
November is an odd month, I think. In many places, the trees are already bare and the days have become shorter. Winter will be upon us before we know it: snow, ice, cold.
A few sunny days interspersed with wind, the final crops of apples and crab apples and root vegetables being stored, grey skies. As the colour drains away from nature, we see the dull brown landscape morphing into the stark black-and-white world we will live with for the next several months.
We will still catch glimpses of the beauty and sunshine of autumn. It gives us time to slowly let go and prepare for winter. It is the Cariboo, after all, where the sky is brilliant blue day after day, and still shines blue on many a winter day. The temperatures may change, but the beauty so often remains.
Depending on where you live, November is often mostly grey and dull, drizzly rain, gloom and doom. It follows right on the heels of spooky, gloomy, scary, dark Hallowe’en, and 11 days in we focus on Remembrance Day, which is anything but bright and cheery. It’s sombre and sad and thought-provoking. Older ones among us had first-hand experiences with loved ones going to war and not returning home, of fear and loneliness, hardships, rations, and loss.
We must talk about it. We must let our younger generations know that but for the heroic efforts and sacrifices of those gone too soon, we would not have what we have today: freedom and comforts and plenty.
Let us pause and reflect and offer a prayer for our earthly saviours and resolve to persevere in doing good, being kind, loving our neighbours, and doing everything possible to have peace in our hearts, in our homes, in our country, and in the world. Lest we forget.
We’re off on a new era of governance for Clinton. Congratulations to new mayor Roland Stanke and his able team of councillors. Please join me in thanking our outgoing council, who did all in their power to make Clinton a safe, clean, happy place in which to live. Your commitment and efforts were surely appreciated by all: tough job, well done!
Congratulations Clinton and District Assisted Living Society, which had its first-year anniversary ribbon-cutting on Oct. 21. What’s not to love? Beautiful suites, tasty meals, helpful, competent, and caring staff. It took a while, but it finally all came together. Clinton seniors: you are blessed!
The Clinton Seniors’ Association Marketplace is just around the corner on Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Clinton Memorial Hall. Thank you to all our supporters: YOU are the “U” in our success.
The Clinton Seniors’ Association will hold its next regular meeting on Nov. 17 at 2:30 pm. Come out and meet us at the seniors’ centre (217 Smith Avenue) at 1 p.m. following lunch at the centre. New members are always welcome, and the annual fee is only $15 for lunch every month followed by a congenial meeting.
Well, I’m encouraged. Reader’s Digest arrived in today’s mail and the cover story is “Only Good News: 75 Awe Inspiring Reasons to Smile”. I can hardly wait to open the cover!
There are no member birthdays to celebrate in November.
Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
editorial@accjournal.ca
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