Dear Friends and Family: September 2024
I have been amazed at nature’s calendar. It’s September and the seasons are changing, just in time. It’s always, just in time. That’s the point. Why is it always just in time?
I’m sitting on our screened-in porch this morning, quietly drinking a cup of coffee, when I see a squirrel run across the yard. It is carrying a nut in its mouth. So, it stops, stands up on its hind legs, looks around, and proceeds to bury the nut. Then, just to mark the spot it urinates a bit on it (I guess so it can find it later when it needs the nut). Maybe this is not so remarkable, but who showed that squirrel the calendar? How does it know that the seasons are changing and it’s time to get ready for winter?
The other day, on the local news, it was announced that we should all turn off any outdoor lights on our houses that night. Why? Because around three million birds were to be flying south over our area and the lights might distract them. Who sent out the memo saying, “Pack up, we’re heading out tonight (and pay no attention to those yard lights the humans forgot to turn off)?” Did three million birds receive a text telling them, “Tonight’s the night. We’re getting an early start and should be in Florida by the weekend?”
On my bulletin board I have pinned a sheet that tells me when each Jewish holiday begins from this year through 2029. We can figure it out. We can plan in advance (although I never do). But this nature thing is a bit of a miracle. Not just that it happens, but that it happens every year. No calendars, no printed sheets, no emails, no texts.
Well, it looks like it’s time to get the furnace checked, remember to unscrew the hoses from the outdoor spigots, pull out the heavy socks, gloves, and make sure the car’s antifreeze is up to snuff. The squirrels are certainly telling us something. Luckily, we don’t have to bury a nut in the ground...and mark the spot. The squirrels, the birds, and that calendar sheet on the board are announcing, loud and clear, that Rosh Ha Shannah is right around the corner.
Ready or not. Here it comes. And it’s just in time.
Shannah Tovah.
Ron
