The Rustling of Leaves
December 5, 2007 -- Got something to say?
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By Jon Melegrito
My heart sank at the sight of my bitter melons wilted, withered and wasted after a few frosty nights in autumn. It was sad. I didnt have the heart to see them this way, so I decided it was far better to put them out of their misery. Now they are a pile of spiny, leafless vines, all tangled up and ready to be raked away along with the dead leaves from our yards fiery oaks and sugar maples. I must do this if only to allow the ground to breathe.
In autumn, metaphors take on new meaning.
For several weeks from June through October, the lusty harvest of green leaves and gorgeous fruits was bountiful. April seeds sprouted wildly into hardy vines in May, and by September they have taken over every inch of garden space, climbing over the back porch and up the pine trees on the front yard. Bless the bees for doing their thing all summer.
And now, Ive read, bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate. They are flying off in search of pollen and nectar and simply never coming back. And nobody knows why. Reports say the bees are presumably dying in the fields, perhaps becoming exhausted or simply disoriented. Or just simply stressed out from all that pollinating.
In autumn, metaphors do take on new meaning.
As chance would have it (or maybe it was all planned), Ive been deployed by my union the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) to go to Iowa for two months. Except for a few days home on Thanksgiving and Christmas, Ive been in this farming state since the second week of November, and wont return until after the January 3 Iowa Caucus. As everyone who follows the presidential campaign knows, the eyes of the nation will be on Iowa when it chooses the states Democratic and Republican nominees.
AFSCME has endorsed Hillary Clinton, and AFSCME as it has done in the past will be sending hundreds of boots on the ground to get our union members to the caucuses in January. Story County in Ames is where Im based. Apart from making phone calls and house visits, holding meetings and getting out the vote, our mission is to ensure Hillarys nomination and, of course, her election as president of the United States.
That means convincing those who are still undecided (about 40 percent in Iowa ) that Hillarys strength is her experience and ability to make meaningful changes for the nation. The major issues are the war in Iraq and affordable health care. Even some of our Republican members agree that our country today is in serious trouble, and may even vote Democratic this time around. But Hillary is not necessarily their first choice. She wasnt mine either, until now.
Whats been most satisfying and instructive is getting into the minds and hearts of people who live outside of the Beltway. Out where spacious skies and amber waves of grain evoke the stirring strains of America the Beautiful. One day I drove six miles to a farm in Ames where a couple (both union members) lived, raising corn and wheat and poultry. Their sense of self-sufficiency living off the bounties of the earth, fresh eggs and meat - was a source of enduring pride. They give away any surplus produce to the needy. Their view of Washington and how it works is notably different. Theres a certain cynicism, but a healthy one.
As Henry David Thoreau puts it, these are indeed stirring autumn days, when men sweep by in crowds, amid the rustle of leaves like migrating finches; this is the true harvest of the year, when the air is but the breath of men, and the rustling of leaves is as the trampling of the crowd. Thats how it feels, in a sense, getting ready for the Iowa Caucus in the dead of winter. Happily, there is something about the raking of political dead leaves to allow the lawns of our national life to breathe again. Like the shape of summer she was in at the end, Washington s performance was a disgrace, an absolute mess. Its time to replace and replenish. The changing foliage requires disposal of fallen leaves. Autumn asks that we prepare for tomorrow, that we let go of fallen leaders who have failed us.
Today through January, the eyes of the nation are on Iowa . And I just happen to be there, in the cold, doing my part to rake dead leaves and allow the good earth to breathe again.
E-mail your comments to jonmele@aol.com
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