Trees dress in oranges, yellows, and vibrant reds. They’ve done this before. They know what’s coming. Animals bound through dropped leaves stirring up the scent of damp earth. Leaves that fell so fast are thinning and twirl down in much lesser numbers.

Those who make their home under spreads of branches begin to slow down. This chill in the air is a sign to look for somewhere warmer. Caves and burrows fill with calm heartbeats ready for rest.

Even the sun dulls itself and shadow sleeps across the skies.

Never has there been silence and stillness as pleasing as taking a walk at night through freshly fallen snow.

Sometimes the empty places are the fullest.

But we speed up.

Songs become louder, blasted throughout the city. Sweaters are celebrated for gaudiness. The bustling feet of shoppers, holes burning in their pockets, create overwhelming cadences that are forever off tempo and out of sync.

Food, food, and more food! Do many of us stop for a moment other than the comatose of a single afternoon before crowds gather to race against time and each other for those things that will one day end up in a garage sale or dump?

While the rest of the world shrinks into stillness, we kick and scream as if it would take us hostage and harm us.