Under her warm branches lovers and dreamers would gather to embrace and dream. Lost souls would find solace. Wide-eyed individuals with big ideas for a better tomorrow would sketch out their thoughts, collaborate with one another, and reify their visions. They couldn’t resist the tree’s magnetic draw: leaves aflame with the richest, deepest hues of autumn, igniting passion and creativity. The great red maple was larger than life, and getting larger still, for each time a poet finished a stanza, or an artist completed his canvas, or a philosopher discovered a new insight, another branch would grow, inviting more and more folk to assemble under its protection and forge a new path together. Each moment a musician strummed a new chorus, or a speaker inspired his audience, or a politician placed the common good over ambition, the trunk thickened and the leaves expanded. Small minds shackled by the past say you can’t change the future. It's a waste of time trying to create a harmonious community, for the foibles of humanity will always subvert the efforts. But those who venture into the woods of October just might forgo the past, form a broader perspective, find other possibilities.
