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The end of November is full of damp corners, cool winds and the smell of wet campfires. Leaves transition from crispy crunchy to heavy and damp and gray clouds begin rolling in for their winter stay.
This time of year is a comfort to me. Not because of the so-called ‘dreariness’ outside, but because it is set up for progress, for functionality. Summer is distracting. I head to the pool in the afternoons, stay active until late at night, rise early, and fill my time with people and places. Autumn and winter set me up for success. I am well-rested, stay home and find a focus I just don’t have in summer. Perhaps because there is less to do outside and more to do inside? Inside, where I work. Inside, where I can turn on the oven and cook. Inside, where I can insulate myself from distraction.
My daily walk last week took me through my usual pathway to the local post office. Down a hill, across a street, into the woods, through the shopping plaza, to the post office. Scenery transitions from semi-urban landscape to completely natural and back again.
I share the sidewalks with no one. I share the path with no one. Everyone is in their cars, windows up.
There’s no sun peeking behind the clouds and no kids on the baseball diamond.
No one hangs out in the parking lot to talk to neigbors and friends leaving the grocery store, and there’s no group of kids on bikes riding circles.
The post office is still busy as ever. People running in out. Packages being mailed. Letters being picked up.
The post office seems to have no seasonal change. But I do!
Dear Cole,
Hear in Southern Stockholm County it looks almost the same as on your pictures. We are awaiting the first flakes of snow. We’ve had two tough winters in a row. This year it’s delayed a bit but that doesn’t automatically mean that it is going to be mild.
In Sweden we no longer have proper post offices. Now we have small desks at the local supermarkets…
Lennart
Oh, what I wouldn’t trade for a similar walk. Bear Creek Meadows is all concrete and pitiful lawns. To take such a lovely walk, I would have to drive past the suburban jungle, speed west on the farm-to-market road . . . So I sit. Reading and wishing. And being inspired! There’s always tomorrow.
You can buy stamps at customer service in food stores, but that’s no fun. I hope and pray we never lose our post offices. Today was Black Friday at the USPS. People are already mailing holiday packages. We need a new post office.