Renewing November

In November the trees have lost almost all their leaves. A few still glow with yellow or red, but most are bare, leaves carpeting the earth around their trunks. As it occurs in the world outside our windows, this season can also provide clarity and simplicity for those of us looking out. Ideas, thoughts, projects and goals become stripped of the unnecessary. That which was confusing or complicated in September and October can become much easier in November, leaves settling to the ground as trunks and branches are outlined stark and plain against the sky.

At The Nature Place, we need September and October to cushion our landing out of summer. During these months we’re still wrapping up the heat and the harvest, our thinking still on concluding that which just occurred.

The bare trees and cooler weather of November allow us to turn our minds finally to that which is arriving, next summer, a new camp season, new ideas. We look through our ‘2012 book’, the journal we keep throughout summer where we jot down (in between all the activities and campers) things to change for next year. We solidify our advertising, our camp fairs and open houses. We pour over evaluations and review what worked and what didn’t, and we begin the process that eventually leads to new growth: a parallel to the buds and baby green of springtime turning into the full, rich leaves of summer.