It’s fall.

Daylight hours are getting shorter. The moon appears bigger and brighter during the fall equinox. My neighbors are planning how to outdo each other’s front yard Halloween decorations.

As residents of the Northeast and Midwest listen to Hurricane Helene reports from Florida, they silently pray for people in the storm’s path while expressing gratitude that the worst of their upcoming winter weather challenges involve short-term airport closures and school “snow days.”

I like living in an area that sees seasonal changes. We might joke that there are only two seasons here in Chicago  — winter and construction — but different people have different favorite times of the year.  There are fans of winter just as there are summer sun worshipers and happy gardeners in the spring.

I like fall. It reminds me, everyone, to appreciate change.

Yes, I’m wildly resistant to many types of change.  I was slow to get a model of iPhone that did not have a home key. (It can still take several swipes for me to perform an operation.)

I never liked self-serve checkouts. They don’t seem to save time and they curtail civil exchanges with people we don’t have vested relationships with (and people wonder why isolation is epidemic).

I don’t like doing business with companies that expect their customers to provide their own customer service.

It’s not just technology but there is usually a technology component to new ways of doing something.  I love things that are unique and personal. I know it is probably not the most eco-friendly use of paper, but I prefer getting an engraved wedding invitation on cream colored paper over a QR code on an email blast.

But I’ve devoted some energy and attention to how I frame things.

I’ve recognized that sometimes I don’t like change because it feels like something was imposed on me, that my input did not shape the outcome. Considering that the change just represents something new holds a different feeling.

If CHANGE is just something new, I understand that it will likely change again, maybe with more input on my part. Now that I understand related options a bit better, I am less resistant.

Like everyone else across the world, I have been caught up in the drama around  the November presidential election. Although I felt Joe did a great job, considering what he walked into, I am excited about the change in the air.

I am encouraged by the unexpected rise of Mayor Pete (Buttigieg), appearing on Fox often and calmly taking down pompous hosts with truth, decency and humor and being introduced to Tim Walz.

Where did this guy come from? I guess ”weird” has to be the word of the year.

And Madam President….I like the sound of it.

I think women are better suited for being leaders of a democracy. Success is not about prevailing, vanquishing or punishing.  It’s about allocating resources in the best way for all concerned. It’s about getting ahead by taking others with you.

Women learn related skills all the time, whether organizing study groups in junior high or planning career advances by seeking and becoming mentors. While a man’s winning strategy might be to score a big sale, women learn how to listen and how to make others feel heard.

So, I am more than ready to see a new face and different story occupying the highest level of power in our country. I have a history with the Democratic party and share many views on policy with Kamala, but I’d also like to see things done in a different, dare I say, more feminine, way.

I realize this is new and maybe a little threatening, in its newness, to some people. A woman president. I think it portends an age of deeper empathy, compromise and collaboration, long-term thinking; a refocusing on progress.

I hope the most resistant among us can consider this step as an adventure, an antidote to rule by ego or operating by managing serial crises.

Embracing the change in the air is no small thing.