"Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments." -Plato

Thursday of this week marked the autumnal equinox - 10:21 am in our region - when summer bowed out to fall, the Earth's axis momentarily tilted neither away from nor toward the sun. Every day onward through March, now, our planet will avert her face a bit more from the scrutiny of the sun.

It is a season of change marked by shortened hours of daylight and lingering hours of darkness. Flowers wither, trees shed leaves, birds migrate south, and low summer temperatures become the high for the day. There is a sense of loss as green vistas give way to a more barren landscape.

On the other hand, cool weather invites activity, color crowns deciduous trees and then leafless forests expose wonders hidden by summer's thick foliage. Orchard branches hang heavy with fruit and pumpkin fields glow with orbs of orange. What we fear we have lost is made up in snippets of beauty.

This year, autumn also heralds another change - that of the political scene. Whether on the local or national level, as the earth begins to tilt away from the sun, we find ourselves tipped in a direction that portends change.

Just as some years we find autumn lacking in color, or tainted with a blustery chill, so the political landscape some years appears less inviting than in other years. We are challenged by political rhetoric, wily in its presentation of facts. It is tempting to decide to not decide, but this is no time to huddle beneath covers of apathy. Embrace this season. Take time these next few weeks to learn about candidates (a meet and greet for local Democratic candidates takes place this Sunday at Treadwell Park, at 1:30 pm, for example, and The Newtown Bee offers local opportunity at its upcoming October 18 political forum at Edmond Town Hall) and determine who will contribute to a better world, locally or globally. Consider the broad repercussions of your vote, and determine to cast an informed vote come November. To not vote is to support a faction you have decided, for whatever reasons, is not representative of universal needs.

We are tilting away from the familiar, be it the summer sun or politics. We must be sure that when the world begins once again to lean in to the sun that what is in place on this planet is a leadership that, like seeds in the earth, can flourish.

We do not have any control over the change of seasons. We do have the power to make changes in the political landscape, with every vote cast, that will affect our lives and the lives of our neighbors worldwide for the next several years. It can be an autumn of beauty or one that chills to the bone.

Educating ourselves in these next several weeks will determine which way we tilt.