A Fresh Start

I've always thought of the fall as the real start of the year. Here in Ohio, you can't really tell the difference between the cold, dark time of December and the cold, dark time of January, so New Year's has never felt like much of a time of change.

The fall, for me, has always been a time to start new things. I got married in the fall. My two daughters were born in the fall, and the oldest just started kindergarten. It's a time of fresh starts, new projects and big changes.

But these changes haven't always been good. This fall marks the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. This summer, I attended a talk from Richard Picciotto, commander of the 11th battalion of the New York City Fire Department. Picciotto has the honor to have evacuated the World Trade Center twice – first in 1993 and again in 2001.

I watched the live coverage 10 years ago, glued to the television with everyone else in the country, but to see the devastation again and hear Picciotto describe the sheer horror he saw brought it all back, and then some.

I have a cousin in the Marines, and several friends in other branches of the military. I support what they do, but if I had my way, I'd have them stateside and not getting shot at in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Capt. Picciotto's message this summer was simple: After the Sept. 11 attacks, the country came together to heal, repair and fight back. Since then, we've lost a lot of that feeling, he said. He's right.

Sept. 11 was a lot of things to a lot of people, but for me, it's always been a reminder of how short life can be. You never know what will happen or how the course of global events can impact your daily life. We can't change what happened 10 years ago, but we can change and improve what we do tomorrow.

So take some time this fall and see what you can start to improve – not just your own space, but that of those around you.

It's an uncertain world, and whether it's yourself, your family or your business, the next few months can be a time of great changes. I hope they're all for the best.

See my video blog at www.lawnandlandscape.com.

– Chuck Bowen