Late October in Wisconsin

Since moving to Wisconsin six years ago, my love of October has grown, thanks to its amazing display of color as leaves turn yellow, orange, and red along the Fox River Valley. Adding to the visual excitement is the wide range of outdoor temperatures with chilly nights for ideal sleep and sunny afternoons warm enough for my final days of wearing shorts and sandals (although I often see Wisconsinites wearing these in January, too).

As a lifelong fan, October offers a full menu of sports, including football, basketball, hockey, and baseball. Of course, these sports can be watched by fans across the country; however, this year, Wisconsin fans had the thrill of rooting for the Brewers as they won their first World Series Championship. This state is primarily Packer Country, but the current cheering for the Brew Crew will echo long into 2027. And for countless years, fans will share stories about where they were when the last groundball was fielded by Turang. At least, those fans who limited their beer intake will know where they were.

Amidst all this intoxicating joy, I had a troubling moment while watching the weather report on yesterday’s evening news. The weatherman showed a map to highlight the fall foliage across the state. The color-coded regions were identified as either first colors, near peak, peak or past peak. Here on October 31, the past peak category has swept down from the north to cover most of Wisconsin. While my Waukesha home in the southeastern corner of the state is listed as peak, I see our days are numbered. Past peak is on my doorstep, and that doorstep will soon be covered with fallen leaves needing to be raked or worse, those leaves will jam my gutters. (I wonder if The Jammin’ Gutters would be a good name for a rock group.)

Therefore, October is not all fun and games. The late sunrises and early sunsets generate a heavy melancholy in me, thinking of the passing year and the many other years in my rearview mirror. If fall foliage can fit into categories like peak and past peak, I suppose my life can, too. I am uncertain when my peak was, but seven years into retirement, it seems past peak is the correct call. Without the weekly stimulation of a job, sometimes I feel myself gliding through my days without direction and often being unsure of what day of the week it is. Maybe it is cognitive decline. Probably it is simply a case of “it doesn’t really matter.”

“Change is inevitable,” says my inner Buddha, reminding me that accepting change is a lesson I seem to need to relearn time and time again and shedding my work identity is just a part of my larger life. So, if it is only my career which is past its peak, is there something else which may still be peaking?

In his book, Living an Examined Life, James Hollis focuses upon the wisdom we can gain during the later years of life, especially seeing this phase as a final opportunity to embrace parts of ourselves which had been unlived. This may be the book we thought about writing or the travel we longed to do or the reconnection with long-lost family and friends. In the past, we may have decided we were too busy with jobs, parenting, and other responsibilities; but these reasons may become shallow when we recognize we now have the time and ability to do what we have put off for years. Fulfilling these dreams require letting go of some of our self-imposed limitations and committing ourselves to seek new adventures. In doing so, there is uncertainty. Maybe we doubt our ability to move out of our established comfort zones. Maybe living our dream will not be as wonderful as the fantasy of living it was. Nothing is for certain.

Enter my friend, Carl Jung, who stated, “A mature spirituality does not offer certainty. It offers mystery.” Additionally, he believed life is "a short pause between two great mysteries."

As I write this today with these ideas in mind, I remember the ending of October in Wisconsin is much more than anticipating a crowd of trick-or-treaters at my door or the upcoming winter. It is time to commit myself to be open-minded and open-hearted regarding the next adventures in my life.

Where are you in the phases of your life? Near peak? Peak? Past Peak?  Even if you think you are past peak, what other peaks may be calling to you?