Acres of Ability

This week, we celebrated All Souls Day and All Saints Day.  I hope that wherever you are, the changing seasons encouraged the trees around you to expose their own soul color.  For most of the year, a tree’s true leaf color is hidden behind hard-working chlorophyll as the tree diligently converts carbon dioxide and sunshine into the life-sustaining oxygen we tend to take for granted. Then, for a few short weeks, or days, or even hours, the tree stops working long enough to show its true color.  If you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss it. I believe the beauty of autumn is made even more exquisite by the urgency that accompanies it.  As your childish senses are thrilled by the crisp, crackly, flame-colored leaves, your grown-up wisdom reminds you that frosty wind and shortened daylight hours will soon turn the crispy flames to a dull, limp brown. We recently experienced the height of Iowa in autumn during a 2-hour train ride through my favorite scenic landscape, the 30-mile ro