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The autumn of life: a bit of perfection

By FRANK KAISER
Published June 27, 2006

HALIFAX - Proving once again that youth is wasted on the young, 31 years ago in Mexico I fell 50 feet onto rocks, breaking my back and all the ribs on my right side and shattering my right foot.

Later, my Aunt Marion called my fall "God's way of telling you to slow down."

It worked.

I now believe that there's not only a season for all things, there's a reason as well. I have come to accept the purposefulness of God. In my world, there are no accidents, no coincidences.

In this spirit, my wife, Carolyn, and I visited the Maritime Provinces of Canada - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island - to enjoy the splendor of autumn and to probe that season for metaphor and meaning.

First, consider the metaphor:

We Suddenly Seniors are in the fall of our lives, agreed? To many, that means we are now dancing an inevitable, macabre overture to death.

That's not what I see on this visit. Like a western sky at sunset screaming, "Look at me! Look what I've done!" fall tells me that this is a spectacular time of life.

Autumn is a bonus, really. Consider: It's a bit of perfection between hot and cold, and leaves turn to gold, red, orange and yellow. Here's nature at its most flamboyant. Instead of a prelude to death, it's the essence of life itself, with all its changes, caprice and wonder.

I look around me and see a season and a time of great promise.

Doesn't it figure, then, that this period is supposed to be our most spectacular time, creative and vivid? An almost supernatural time when we walk through splendid paintings, dance to melodies yet unwritten and consider clearly that which lies behind the mists of ego, prejudice and fear?

As I look toward the end, I see a remarkable opportunity: years of time to do with as we please. Though it races faster than a child's afternoon, here's our chance to display our creativity, inner beauty and loving nature.

Life is a great gift. And nature has provided abundant clues on how to live it to its fullest.

Yet so many of us fail to heed those signs. We choose instead to live the days of our autumn in the world of celebrity, gossip and worry. A world dominated by doctor's appointments instead of dreams, despair instead of delight.

Wouldn't you rather go out in a passionate blaze of fall glory?

I'm not saying that "old is the new fabulous." The song is right; the days do grow short as we reach November. And often they are painful. But they needn't be forlorn as well.

Just a short step beyond our vanity lies the glorious smell of burning leaves, the sound of laughter from under a pile of gold and red and yellow, and autumn, fresh and crisp and alive with hope.

And sure as spring, new life is just around the corner.

At least, that's what I see as I look around me here in the woods and rivers and bays of Nova Scotia on an October day.

IF YOU GO
If you choose not to fly to the Maritimes and rent a car to see them at your own pace, several tour companies offer packaged trips. Consult a travel agent or go on the Web. The Canadian government has a fine site at www.explore.canada.travel/ctc/ke/homepage.jsp?localeId=16, and each of the provinces maintains a tourism site. At a search engine such as Google or Yahoo, type the name of the province and the word tourism; the results will include government and commercial sites.

The sights:The Bay of Fundy tides are every bit as awe-inspiring as we had imagined, and in the autumn the tides rise to 64 feet in about six hours, twice daily.

Peggy's Cove, situated on a narrow inlet of St. Margaret's Bay, seems lost in time with its lovely lighthouse and windswept rocks.

Prince Edward Island is pristine and beautiful.

The Cabot Trail, acclaimed one of the world's great drives, winds around the coast on Cape Breton Island and is home to a large variety of wildlife, Alexander Graham Bell's home and some of the funniest scarecrows you'll ever see.

Getting there:There are no direct flights from the Tampa Bay area, but there is connecting service, through New York, Boston or Toronto, to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

What to wear: Our tour was in October, so we took long-sleeved shirts and jackets. Waterproof jackets or slickers are a must, as rainfall in these verdant provinces can be heavy at times.

Documentation:U.S. citizens need proof of citizenship when traveling over the border.

--You can write to Frank Kaiser care of the St. Petersburg Times, Seniority, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. His Web site is www.suddenlysenior.com.

[Last modified June 27, 2006, 07:10:55]