The trees in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia are in full autumn glory—almost as brilliant as New Hampshire—as I write this in late October. The election is impending in about 10 days and will be history when you read this as the country readies itself for the inauguration. I sometimes feel like this column is a time capsule (a small one—two months) as I write notes to the future.

Classmates who peruse the ’57 listserv may be familiar with Rod Hinkle’s occasional philosophical musings on life. For those who aren’t, here’s a copy of one of Rod’s recent thoughts on growing old: “Once you pass the three-quarters century of life, there aren’t many brand-new thrills left. But last week, visiting my son’s family in the very nice town of Lemont, Illinois, I had one of those thrills—riding for the first time in a car driven by a grandchild, my granddaughter, Lily. And there was an unexpected second thrill—the car was hers and it was not some beat-up, second-hand piece of junk that I would turn down if it was offered to me. It had all the bells and whistles you find on brand-new cars with beeping warning signals if you are about to do something dangerous. But in addition to all these virtues, I was also proud of myself. Never once did I say, ‘Be careful’ or ‘Watch out.’ It was one of those few totally warm and positive experiences for one who got his driving license during the Korean War. (For those of you a little shaky in your American history, that was the war between North and South Korea in the years 1950 to 1953. We took the side of the South.)”

It’s only six months to our 60th reunion, June 12-15. If you haven’t signed up yet, get in touch with Clark or Happy Griffiths at clarkgrif@comcast.net or Mike Tompkins at miket@infionline.net. Better yet, help is always needed and welcome.

One event during our reunion will be a service and remembrance for classmates who have passed away. This month we must add Wilbur Springer, Tom Barker, Ed Bixby and Dick Mann to the list of the deceased. They will be remembered in our thoughts and prayers.

—Bruce Sloane, 124 Hull School Road, Sperryville, VA 22740; (540) 987-8859; bsloane@wildblue.net