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An American in Paris

This post originally appeared on this site on November 6, 2021. 

Laval U. Peloquin

An American in Paris

By Louise Peloquin

On September 16, 1940, the US passed the Selective Service Act allowing the draft of eligible men for military service. Hence, Laval U. Peloquin, one of nine children born to French-Canadian immigrants Joseph and Marieanne, was plucked out of civilian life and deposited into the Army.

Laval was in his first semester at the Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington D.C. on December 7, 1941, the day Pearl Harbor was attacked. All medical students were conscripted when the US declared war on Japan on December 8. As they would be of greater use with medical training, the students were allowed to remain in school with the rank of Second Lieutenant (sometimes called “butter bars” because their insignia resembled one and because they had, in the view of some, about the same value as a stick of butter). Laval completed his studies as a commissioned officer but was usually in civies.

During the first summer of medical school, he was sent to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for basic training, a new experience where medical students were given no slack. The drill sergeants strengthened the trainees, toughened them physically and knocked them down to better build them up. They were a special target for ridicule, harassment and other duties as assigned. Asking for a bathroom rather than a latrine earned the trainee a ration of grief.

Laval was an alumnus of Assumption Preparatory School followed by Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Assumptionist brothers and priests, many from Europe, excelled in classical education, the basic sciences and discipline in the Biblical sense. Laval later recognized that this type of instruction, which did not spare the rod, helped him complete basic training. He did what was told, when told and as told. Daily reveille blasted the trainees awake before dawn, hustling them to get ready, to square away their bunks and foot lockers and to shout “Yes, drill sergeant.” The soldier was dressed down if a look of amusement or defiance crossed his face.

Laval was not in shape for basic training, but he made a consistent effort to follow instructions, keep a serious expression and behave as he was taught at Assumption Prep where corporal punishment existed even up to the time of its closing in 1970. He had learned that harsh discipline prepares a man for life’s challenges as well as for war.

Training included crawling through the mud under live machine gun fire, climbing tall walls and jumping down the other side, 20-mile hikes with full packs and C-rations. C-rations were given to the troops when fresh food was not available. These meals were calorie dense, consisting of a meat, a couple of biscuits that could be used as a blunt impact weapon or a hockey puck, an insipid dessert and a pack of cigarettes with matches. The latter was the favorite element of said banquet. Salt, lots of it, was the primary flavoring. A helping of grease was in the can for good measure and a full canteen of water enhanced the dining experience. These meals were not gourmet, but they kept one alive as Laval’s relatives in combat in North Africa and the South Pacific would later testify. Laval had a sensitive palate but would not criticize this offering from the taxpayer as he chose to avoid correction from the drill sergeant. Again, the protocol was remaining impassive, complying to injunctions, not volunteering one’s opinion but rather volunteering for harsh or extra duty to prove one’s mettle. After a while, Laval noticed that the drill sergeant ceased to choose him because other trainees seemed to require instruction more desperately.

Upon completion of medical school, Laval was assigned to a medical combat support unit in the South Pacific. His class graduated early as the military needed doctors. The war in Europe was winding down, and his services were required where fighting was still fierce.

He was granted a brief leave to return to Lowell to say goodbye to his family. His mother and sisters cried as he left. On the set date, his father Joseph drove him to the old train station in Worcester for his journey. The service men were well treated, with coffee, snacks and meals. At scheduled stops, the public was there to greet the soldiers, sailors and Marines with goodies and hugs. Laval was contemplating his adventure and the dangers therein.

In Chicago, Illinois, he was scheduled to do an “overnighter” in a government-provided accommodation. He reported to the Army liaison center at the train station for his orders. They had been changed. He was reassigned to Paris, France, with duties yet to be specified. He was booked to go to New York City for a ship bound for Europe two days later. That night, he got on a train to NYC and boarded his ship.

Upon arriving in France, Laval was sent to Paris. “The City of Lights” had been liberated on August 25, 1944, and the war was drawing to a close. When he reported to headquarters, he found out why they removed him from duty in the Pacific. He proceeded to Paris as a Second Lieutenant and, shortly thereafter, was promoted to First Lieutenant. At this rank, he was named chief venereal disease control officer.  A French speaker was de rigueur for the Army and Laval’s linguistic mastery met the requirements. This was no surprise as he had grown up in a Franco-American family where French was the household tongue.

Liberated Paris was very welcoming. Many young women wanted to personally express their appreciation for the Allied soldiers who gave them liberty. Some gave their affection freely, others did so for a fee. Penicillin, the brand-new miracle drug, was the exclusive property of the US military and was prescribed for serious or recreational infections. Laval’s job was to inspect the “social clubs” where many soldiers found comfort in Gallic arms and so he examined and treated the victims of amorous activities, be they women or soldiers.

Laval was assigned his own Jeep with all of the fuel he could consume. In a time of rationing, he could go where he wanted when he wanted. He was also designated as head of a military police squad complete with its own transportation truck. His men, some trained as medics, facilitated entrance into any home or establishment needing the services of the specialized unit. Usually, he was greeted cordially, as his mission allowed these businesses to safely operate. At other times, the squad would have to raid the oasis of comfort. He was welcomed throughout Paris as a liberator from “intimate irritations.”

As he toured the city, he practiced his other-than-medical talents. With his curly ginger hair, green eyes and pleasant features, Laval was handsome. He was also blessed with a beautiful singing voice, one that he had used to earn pin money while a medical student in Washington, D.C.  As he had done in the States, he sang in bistros but not for tips. In Paris, he received a good meal, a good drink and the opportunity to dance and sing with the city’s darlings like Montmartre’s singer-actress Patachou.

Certainly, the services Laval provided promoted the public health and welfare of Paris. As conservative parents learned of this “French” American doctor, he also found himself being invited for a home-cooked meal and an introduction to their treasures, i.e., their daughters. In such homes, the fathers watched this Army officer closely. Although he seemed nice, they would leave their daughters alone with no man.

It was in such a Gallic home that he received a special treat. Lamb stew, a wartime rarity, was on the menu. As guest of honor, Laval was served the most delectable pieces of lamb, the most succulent vegetables and small potatoes simmered in a delicately fragrant sauce. It was scrumptious. He ate heartily and engaged in friendly conversation with the patriarch of the house while being ogled by mother and demure daughter. As he chewed, he felt a rubbery item that he discreetly removed from his mouth and returned to his bowl. The host noticed and said, “What have you got there? Ah, it is the eyeball, the best part of the stew!” He dipped the ladle into the tureen and added, “Here is the other one, we saved it for you!” Later, during tales to his children about his Parisian experiences, Laval did not specify whether or not he ate the other or if he had ever dined there again. He did tell them that the young woman was quite attractive. Laval’s children do not know if he saw her again.

Just before returning home, he was promoted to Captain.

The year-and-a-half-long tour abroad allowed Laval to live with the French people he served. The suffering, the mourning, the healing, the renovating and the rebuilding, he encountered it all. The celebrating as well and always the singing. His honey-rich tenor rendered popular songs heard especially in the crowded smokey cabarets of La Butte Montmartre. As the years went by, the melodies of his youth never left him. On the contrary, they aged like vintage wine as he fine-tuned his interpretations. Years after his European military assignment, the songs continued to enliven his household and punctuate his tall but true military tales. (See “A kid’s soundtrack” posted on April 27, 2021).

Captain Laval U. Peloquin M.D. was a Titan, a man who lived a life of courage, adventure, leadership and faith. His was also a life of service to the city of Lowell, first as a general practitioner in his 322 Pawtucket Street office facing the Grotto, then as a board-certified surgeon and finally as a board-certified radiologist at Lowell’s Saint Joseph’s Hospital. He died on August 7, 1976, at age 56.

Election 2026: blue wave aided by red undertow by Marjorie Arons-Barron

The entry below is being cross posted from Marjorie Arons-Barron’s own blog.

Like soft laps on a sandy beach, election night began quietly.

7 p.m., CNN analysts are sifting early-reporting in Indiana and Kentucky congressional districts, looking for signs that might foreshadow voting trends. None mentioned that, hours before, the non-voting delegate seat from Guam has peacefully flipped from Red to Blue.

7:30 p.m. The gravitational pull shifts to Florida’s senate and gubernatorial races. MSNow’s Rachel Maddow gushes that Democratic Socialist Angie Nixon was the 2026 candidate she’d most like to have a beer with. Fox panelists sniff that Republicans could actually lose there.

7:35 p.m., the surf is picking up in Ohio and New Hampshire. 8 p.m., attention fixes on Georgia, where Jon Ossoff is already cruising.  In Texas, Talarico is outperforming Kamala Harris and Beto O’Rourke. Talarico’s aide audaciously says it may be an early night.

8:30 p.m., big splash. Heavily favored former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper takes the open Tom Tillis Senate seat. Fox notes that Democrats are running much stronger than pre-election forecasts. Between 9 and 10 p.m, it’s confirmed. Democrats will take back the House, the only unknown – by how much. Some boldly predict winning as many as 235-240 seats. Ohio, Texas and Kansas look promising. Ten p.m. the night’s first shocker. The Senate seat held by Darline Graham goes to Democrat Annie Andrews.

11 p.m., Talarico takes Texas; Sherrod Brown, Ohio; and Adam Hamilton swamps Roger Marshall in Kansas. Kansas of all places! The surges are stronger and stronger. Estimates for House flips rise. At 11:35 CNN announces what a year ago seemed a meteorological impossibility: Democrats have won a majority in the Senate. Fox blames high prices and weak candidates. No one blames Donald Trump – but he blames Fox.

I dozed off around midnight and woke with a start around 2 a.m. to discover that that Democrat Scott Colom was leading Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Senate race in Mississippi by 65 votes.

The talking heads and political consultants confirmed: it was a blue wave, no, a tsunami. It was a sea of blue – but also a red undertow, a self-destructive riptide in Republican circles that made the Democrats’ task easier.

Here are my thoughts, in no particular order.

The golden chutzpah award goes to Donald Trump. He implored his base countless times -reportedly at least 47 times – to close their eyes and pretend he was on the ballot. He acknowledged he was on the ballot. Late Tuesday night, he posted on Truth Social that, “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”  Clearly voters did regard him as on the ballot and forcefully repudiated him and his policies.

Schadenfreude. Watching smarmy Vivek Ramaswamy self-immolate in the Ohio governor’s race gave greatest pleasure, enhanced when learning that Amy Acton refused to take his concession call. Runner-up was Ken Paxton’s defeat in Texas. Other candidates for the equal justice awards: three star admiral Nancy Lacore– fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth–– winning a GOP seat in South Carolina. Or Zach Denbo resigning from the Justice Department over White House interference and flipping a seat in Kentucky. Or Montana Forest Service firefighter Sam Forstag’s success after being cut by DOGE. The sweetest here could be Scott Colom’s senate fight in Mississippi. Former president Biden nominated him to be a federal judge in the Northern District of Mississippi, but on his way to possibly defeating Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, who blocked him from having a confirmation hearing. How sweet it may be.

$$$. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, poured $446 million of his own money (half in Texas) into this year’s midterm elections, mostly aimed at preserving the Republican Party’s control of Congress. (In contrast, Donald Trump, according to recent election filings, contributed zero dollars of his own money.) Money can’t buy everything!

DEI. It’s ironic Democrats stayed away from DEI issues during the campaign, but the election produced a series of historic firsts and greater diversity: first black House speaker; first openly gay and first Muslim US senators; 5 black governors; two states with their first Latino governors; first black female governor in the country; Native American women elected senator in Minnesota and governor of New Mexico. As pointed out in Political Wirehttps://politicalwire.com/2026/11/06/a-remarkable-milestone-in-american-politics/, for the first time in the nation’s history, none of the ten most populous states will have a white, non-Hispanic Christian man as governor.

Redistricting. So how’s that working for you, Donald? The President pressured leaders in red states to redraw congressional district lines in mid-decade to favor Republicans. His most promising target was Texas, whose gerrymandering was supposed to yield five additional seats. The effort to flip red failed in four. A Democrat also picked up a seat that was empty, meaning they have one more seat in the Lone Star State than they did before. When California responded by drawing lines to create five district favorable to Democrats, all five flipped to blue. Trump’s strategy was designed to yield 15 Republican seats. He got just three.

DSA. The two current members of the House who are Democratic Socialists (Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Rashid Tlaib) will be joined by six others (two from New York, one each from Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan and California). We can look at that as a 300 percent increase, or we can say they are just eight out of the 245 to 250 House Democrats and try to understand the energy they are generating in heavily blue districts, especially among younger voters. But that’s a blog for another day, along with answers to the question of Where Do We Go From Here.

There have been several polls over many months measuring unfavorable perceptions of the President’s mental acuity. Twenty-four hours after Tuesday’s election, Fox news poll released a poll confirming that 56 percent of Americans believe he is incompetent to run the government. Finally, an acknowledgment from the Donald Trump official news outlet that the tide has turned. Of course, Trump has two years left, in which he can do a lot of damage domestically and internationally, and the Democrats are still short of a veto-proof majority.

But for now, as the final votes are tallied, we can allow ourselves to be buoyed by the outcome. Not as partisans (I’m one of the plurality of independents.) But as people whose professed values have been violated every day with one Trump outrage after another. Let’s hope that serious minds prevail on both sides of the aisle, and that Donald Trump’s reign of terror is swamped by the enduring wave of history. What a wonderful way to celebrate our democracy’s 250th anniversary.

Lowell Politics: November 8, 2026

The stunning performance of Democratic candidates in the rest of the country in Tuesday’s midterm election has dominated the news. Still, there was also an election here in Massachusetts, so I’ll begin today’s newsletter with the results of the races beginning with our state legislators:

• State Senator
  • Vanna Howard (Dem) – 15,058 in Lowell; 27,422 in district
  • Sam Meas (Rep) – 4363 in Lowell; 12,435 in district
  • Joe Espinola (Unenrolled) – 2,612 in Lowell; 7072 in district
• State Representative – 16th Middlesex
  • Lorena Betts (Dem) – 4304 in Lowell; 7933 in district
  • Karla Miller (Rep) – 2020 in Lowell; 3693 in district
• State Representative – 17th Middlesex
  • John Drinkwater (Dem) – 7152 in Lowell; 8163 in district
  • No opponent
• State Representative (Dem) – 18th Middlesex
  • Tara Hong (Dem) – 5875
  • No opponent

Now back to the full ballot (showing major party candidates only):

• US Senate
  • Edward Markey (Dem) – 15,045 in Lowell; 1,632,326 (63%) statewide
  • John Deaton (Rep) – 5744 in Lowell; 826,552 (32%) statewide
• Governor & Lt Governor
  • Healey & Driscoll (Dem) – 15,019 in Lowell; 1,605,885 (62%) statewide
  • Minogue & Oliver (Rep) – 6249 in Lowell; 891,059 (34.5%) statewide
• Attorney General
  • Andrea Campbell (Dem) – 15,363 in Lowell; 1,674,279 (66%) statewide
  • Michael Walsh (Rep) – 6293 in Lowell; 877,110 (34%) statewide
• Secretary of State
  • William Galvin (Dem) – 16,774 in Lowell; 1,814,465 (71%) statewide
  • Anne Brensley (Rep) – 4906 in Lowell; 731,405 (29%) statewide
• Treasurer
  • Deborah Goldbert (Dem) – 15,229 in Lowell; 1,657,342 (66%) statewide
  • Elizabeth Dionne (Rep) – 6145 in Lowell; 856,022 (34%) statewide
• Auditor
  • Diana DiZoglio (Dem) – 17,599 in Lowell; 1,954,194 (84%) statewide
  • Al Ozonoff (Libertarian) – 2582 in Lowell; 376,706 (16%) statewide
• Representative in Congress
  • Lori Trahan (Dem) – 16,016 in Lowell; 167,849 (67%) districtwide
  • Gary Grossi (Rep) – 4856 in Lowell; 76,946 (31%) districtwide
• Governor’s Councillor (5th District)
  • Eunice Delice Zeigler (Dem) – 14,980 in Lowell; 196,222 (65%) districtwide
  • William Falcetano (Rep) – 5549 in Lowell; 108,060 (35%) districtwide
• District Attorney
  • Marian Ryan (Dem) – 17,647 in Lowell; x countywide
  • No opponent
• Register of Probate
  • Tara DeCristofaro (Dem) – 15,600 in Lowell; countywide TBD
  • Tara Martorella (Justice for All) – 3350 in Lowell; countywide TBD

Regional School Committee – Greater Lowell Regional School Committee candidates represent the city or town in which they reside but are elected district-wide. For this report, I only show the number of votes each candidate received in Lowell, not the entire district.

• Dracut
  • Matthew Seehan – 14,440 in Lowell
• Dunstable
  • No candidates
• Lowell (top two elected)
  • Ralph Hogan – 8818 in Lowell
  • Brady McCarron – 5694 in Lowell
  • Anthony Milisci – 3579 in Lowell
• Tyngsborough
  • Carol Chisolm – 12,149

Ballot Questions – There were nine questions on this year’s ballot. Below I’ve listed each by title with a short explanation followed by the winning response, the votes received in Lowell, and the statewide percentages:

Question 1 – Public Records – (make applicable to governor and legislature)

YES – 85.9% statewide; 17,549 votes in Lowell (85%)

NO – 14.1% statewide; 3154 votes in Lowell (15%)

Question 2 – Public Defenders Unionization – (allow or don’t allow to unionize)

              YES – 64.0% statewide; 14,440 votes in Lowell (71%)

              NO – 36.0% statewide; 6039 votes in Lowell (29%)

Question 3 – Combined Primary Elections – (all candidates from all parties run in a single primary with the top two advancing to the general election)

NO – 61.1% statewide; 12,681 votes in Lowell (58%)

YES – 38.9% statewide; 9382 votes in Lowell (42%)

Question 4 – Election Day Voter Registration – (allows registering to vote on day of election)

YES – 56.3% statewide; 13,996 votes in Lowell (64%)

NO – 43.7% statewide; 7920 votes in Lowell (36%)

Question 5 – Cap on State Revenue – (automatic rebates if tax collections exceed prior year per a formula)

NO – 52.0% statewide; 10,633 votes in Lowell (50.3%)

YES – 48.0% statewide; 10,524 votes in Lowell (49.7%)

Question 6 – Establish and Finance a “Nature for All Fund” – (existing taxes on recreational items devoted to nature conservation)

YES – 60.8% statewide; 14,169 votes in Lowell (65%)

NO – 39.2% statewide; 7659 votes in Lowell (35%)

Question 7 – Single family home minimum lot size – (single family home on 5000 square foot lots statewide)

TOO CLOSE TO CALL STATEWIDE

NO – 50.6% statewide; 8889 votes in Lowell (42%)

YES – 49.4% statewide; 12,470 votes in Lowell (58%)

Question 8 – Repeal legalization of marijuana – (YES would repeal marijuana legalization)

NO – 75.6% statewide; 16,003 votes in Lowell (74%)

YES – 24.4% statewide; 5563 votes in Lowell (26%)

Question 9 – Preserve the stricter gun control law passed by the legislature in 2024 – (yes retains the law; no repeals it)

YES – 67.1% statewide; 15,494 votes in Lowell (70%)

NO – 32.9% statewide; 6642 votes in Lowell (30%)

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At Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting, the council unanimously authorized the city manager to enter into a purchase and sales agreement for the entire property at 276 Broadway which includes the Lowell Senior Center. I’ve previously written about the Senior Center, the controversy over the city’s lease of the property and the recent agreement on purchasing the property, so this vote was a bit anti-climactic. Here’s the document that formed the basis of the council’s vote.

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Another matter that came before the council was the confirmation of a vote already taken by the council in executive session on October 6, 2026. The vote involved three things; all related to the Draper Labs development project in the Hamilton Canal District. Specifically, the vote included a Tax Increment Financing Agreement (TIF); the leasing of 100 parking spaces by Draper in the city’s Hamilton Canal District Parking Garage; and a Right of First Refusal by Draper on an adjacent lot now owned by the city. (The vote and the related agreements are on the city’s website).

When Mayor Erik Gitschier brought up this matter, Councilor Sean McDonough objected to the second reading of the vote which automatically delayed it to the next council meeting. After a brief exchange between Gitschier and McDonough which can be found at 11:56 of the video recording of this meeting, the council moved on to its next item of business.

McDonough cited Council Rule 27 as the procedural basis of this move. Here’s the text of that rule:

RULE 27 – STAGES OF LEGISLATION – All orders, votes, resolutions or ordinances of a legislative nature shall have two readings before final passage. The second reading shall be by title only, if at the same meeting as the first and if no member objects. For matters that require a public hearing, the second reading will not take place until after the public hearing has been held. (Emphasis supplied.)

The requirement for multiple “readings” of a matter proposed at a municipal meeting goes back to early England. Back then, bills before Parliament were handwritten so it was difficult for members to read them in advance of voting on them (and some members couldn’t read in the first place). So members would know what they were voting on, the clerk of Parliament would read the full text of a bill on three consecutive days so that everyone in attendance understood what was before the body.

Although we live in an age of near-universal literacy and proposals before government bodies are widely disseminated online, the procedural rule of multiple readings remains on the books and is more than an ancient artifact since it does give any one member of a legislative body – like the Lowell City Council – the power to slam on the brakes of the potential passage of a matter for whatever reason (or for no reason) that the objecting member desires.

However, in the more than 50 years I’ve been watching Lowell City Council meetings, it has been exceedingly rare for councilors to make use of this rule. I struggle to recall a half dozen times when a councilor objected in this manner, yet I believe this is the second time in his 10 months on the council that Councilor McDonough has utilized this tactic.

That said, McDonough is not alone in his norm breaking. Until just recently, the long-held practice of the Lowell City Council was not to place anything of substance on the agenda of a meeting that fell on the day of an election, whether city or state. Under our system, politics and governing operate hand-in-hand. On election night, it’s reasonable to assume that many who might otherwise participate in (or at least pay attention to) a municipal meeting would be focused on the election. A resident actively involved in the public life of the city should not be confronted with the zero-sum choice of campaigning for a preferred candidate or cause on election night or appearing at a municipal meeting to speak on an important topic.

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This week on richardhowe.com, Leo Racicot reminisced about the importance of the Lowell Sun in the life of the community.

In my Wednesday Seen & Heard column, I continued my coverage of the debate about whether more or fewer people are reading in the US today; I commented about a recently-released study on the high incidence of CTE among NFL players; and I noted that the Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series.

October Reflections

October Reflections

by Henri Marchand

Fall is little over a month old but well underway.  It officially began September 22 with the autumnal equinox, but for me fall began, as it always does, the first week of September, right after Labor Day.  After all, that’s when we return home from summer vacations and school traditionally re-opens.  And it just seems the more logical beginning of the season, making for a neat quarterly sectioning of the calendar—September, October, and November for fall; December, January and February for winter and so on.  Less than a month is sacrificed and except for the astronomical purists, who really worries about a couple of weeks or so?  Despite it being the start of school, autumn is my favorite season, October my favorite month.

In the cycle of the four seasons, fall is considered a time of decline and of final harvests but in many ways, it is also a time of new beginnings.  Except in school districts that have pilfered the final summer days of August, the season of learning and intellectual growth begins in earnest in September.  Come the week after Labor Day, new friends are made, new books discovered, new knowledge gained, and ageless sports rivalries are renewed.

A full schedule of cultural activities also begins in early fall.  Summer stock and outdoor concerts are pretty much over, but the traditional season of theatre, concerts and art exhibits begins in September, as does the new TV season.  In sports, there’s an overlap of seasons as the Boston Red Sox fade like garden annuals while the Patriots return to provide new hope to New England sports fans beginning the first weekend in September.  It is in autumn that Kerouac fans from around the world return to Lowell to honor the founder of a new literary expression.

November on the other hand, begins with the solemn honoring of the saints and seems a month of sudden stillness, of somber preparation for the long sleep of winter.  There are regular frosts and early snows might whiten the landscape, but mostly it’s the time when the last of the leaves, now matted brown and black, are gathered with iron rakes from lawns and swept from where they’ve huddled in windward corners and among low shrubs.  Oaks cling stubbornly to their leaves, rusting and rattling in chill winds.  Thanksgiving is a bright spot, arriving just in time to bid a final farewell to autumn and to officially kick off the holiday season, which now begins ever earlier and unofficially in late summer!  Thanksgiving is a day of feasting and spectacle, of traditions old and new—shared meals, the Macy’s Day Parade and the last of high school football.

But it is October that spellbinds and the month when autumn’s transformation seems suspended and most vibrant.  It is a month of mystery, acute in its effect on the senses.  First of all, the weather is perfect, especially so this year.  It is like a multi-colored May without the bugs.  Except for a late, short lived warm spell or an early flurry, the air cools to comfortable and the landscape glows with the saturated color of radiant foliage against blue sky and white clouds.  October ushers out the drift and drowse of August’s haze still loitering in September.  The Harvest Moon rises in early October when apples and the sweetest of corn are still being picked.  By month’s end Daylight Savings Time ends and lights come on at dinnertime when comfort foods make a return to the table and jack-o-lanterns stand guard by the front door.

Agricultural fairs like Topsfield remind us of New England’s rural past and of agricultural technology, fundamental but indispensable still.  Ancient rites converge with modern traditions on All Hallows Eve, in the fearful contemplation of the spirit world and the gleeful gathering of sweet tribute.

In memory, October is the month of endless after school pickup football games played until dark; of being showered by falling leaves; and of fireworks-like chrysanthemums bursting in a final garden display.  October stokes the imagination and conjures up images of Ichobod Crane being chased by the headless horseman.  In memory, October evokes Saturday mornings filled with sunlight flickering through jagged-edged elm leaves like candle flames, children’s voices blending with the tinny scratching of metal rakes on pavement; and the sweet incense of then legal leaf smoke rising from gutter fires.  In October memories, children gather fallen leaves, saving them from the fires, piling them higher and higher before diving headlong into the heap.

Jack Kerouac, who imagined a new American viewpoint but was acutely sensitive to his roots and home, wrote at the end of “Part I” in On the Road, “I was going home in October.  Everybody goes home in October.”  He might have been speaking not only of the literal journey home but of the metaphorical journey of memories, back from a wild summer season towards new beginnings and a time of reflection from the stable source of his inspiration.