Of a certain age...

Fall is in the air. The leaves are turning yellow, orange, bright red. They are letting go of their branches and flying around with the winds; rising, falling then littering the ground. Pine needles are dropping by the ton from the tall pines, covering the ground in a sea of tan and brown, piled high by those with rakes. The air is crisp during my morning walks, with temperatures going from the 30s into the 70s by mid afternoon. Dress in layers; peel them off as the day warms up.

But now the days grow short, I'm in the autumn of my years. I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs from the brim to the dregs and it poured sweet and clear. It was a very good year. I hear Ol' Blue Eyes crooning in my head, reminding me I'm not 17 anymore.

And I think, gosh, you know what, you're gettin' up there, girl. You can't do all those things you used to do without even thinking. I'm starting to be more cautious, less adventurous. I never used to pack an emergency kit but I do now when I venture out - though I rarely venture out, not wanting to deal with flat tires, bad weather, getting lost in the woods, falling and breaking some necessary body part, no cell phone coverage. And my dog is gone, so there's that.

Something about becoming this certain age makes me want to stay home more and more, so I have to change my habits and accept there are just things I can't do as well or as long or as easily as I used to. My mother and her mother were knitters. I used to wonder how they could just sit there and knit for hours on end. I've tried but I'm just not a knitter. I tried painting, but I'm not really good at that either.

It's a good thing I'm a writer and a reader of books or I don't know what I'd do with so many hours in a day. I haven't had a TV for years though I do enjoy traveling the world and beyond by surfing the Internet. It's like continuing education. Keeps my brain from turning to mush.

So this is what growing old is all about. Letting go and riding the wind currents, becoming more cautious and reclusive, paying more attention to what I eat and my cholesterol numbers, spending time with friends, volunteering for nonprofits, and getting involved in city politics because now I have time. Who has time when you're busy raising a family and building a career, not to mention dealing with relationships? All that is behind me.

Which brings me to election day coming up in a couple of weeks. We've been through some ups and downs in Sisters the past few years; some excellent accomplishments, some rather nasty brouhahas. So I hope everybody will get out and vote for the candidates for city council that they believe have the best interests of this town and its residents at heart.

I'm still on the fence about a couple of candidates so I'm putting them on notice... I'm not dead yet, so convince me you have what it takes to make Sisters a dynamic, growing, prosperous, healthy community well into the future.