DECLARING AN END TO DECLARING AN END TO THINGS

by Andrew Williams

I made a mistake this morning. I looked at today's newspaper. This mistake

was serendipitous, however, because a headline caught my eye. "Summer's

End," it said, in bold type large,

and underneath was a picture of children trudging dutifully

to their first day at work--I mean school. Now, correct me

if I'm wrong (although I'm not), but doesn't summer actually

have another 3 1/2 weeks to go? And if that's right, why are

we so determined to declare a premature end to this particular

season?

Some say it's customary, signifying the beginning of the school year. Some

say it's saying good riddance to the "dog

days" of August. I say it's laziness or a desire to have the

power to arbitrarily end things. I commend to you all the

words of the great Yogi: "It ain't over 'til it's over."

I have a similar gripe with those who think that there is a

definitive time period when men and women put aside childish

things. If there is such a demarcation point that applies to

all humans--not one excluded--I'd like it pointed out to me.

In the mid-1980's, a progressive rock band named Marillion

declared "there is no childhood's end." This was derided as

angel-headed flummery by the usual people from their usual

corners, but the band spoke psychological truth: The child is

father to the man, and all these parts continue to exist

inside our minds, whether we acknowledge their workings or not.

Have you ever noticed that on TV shows, especially dramatic series, that

someone at some point almost always

says to the hero(ine) "It's over! Give it up!" just before

the break in the case appears? Granted, TV is not reality--

hardly even a simulacrum of same--but, at odd times and in

odd ways, it mirrors and echoes reality in revealing

fashions.

And ain't it interesting that same folks who always harp "It's over" are

the first ones to give up or give in? It's like they're the same people

who didn't make it into the lifeboats, so they're urging everybody else to

surrender to the deep.

These are usually also the same people who talk about

"necessary wars" and "military intelligence" and how "we must

support our leaders and the troops."

Hundreds of novels and stories have been written about this

phenomenon, most of the best by so-called science-fiction

writers: Henry Kuttner's "The Marching Morons," Aldous

Huxley's *Brave New World,* Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison

Bergeson." Each story shows us the world as if it were run

by the vox populi, the "Silent Majority." As Jonathan Edwards

(the singer/songwriter, not the 18th century fire'n'brimstone

preacher) wrote, "They can't even run their own lives--I'll

be damned if they'll run mine!"

Some bold declarations: I say that summer--or any season--

ends when you (or the calender) say it ends. I say that we

all have a child, a mother/father and a wo/man within us.

I say that no one can decide for you when to keep going and

when to give in. I say that we were given life to test our

limits, find our own joys, learn from our own mistakes. And

I say you have the right to deny power to those who say or

do otherwise.