Disrupted Rhythms

Our age has robbed millions of the simplicity of ignorance, and has so far failed to lift them to the simplicity of wisdom.— Robertson Davies

When your annual rhythm is shaped by school semesters, September marks a change in pace. The edges of leaves crackle just a little, the wind shifts, and the morning rush replaces the laziness of August evenings. For as long as I can remember, early fall has brought an anticipation of fresh starts and new opportunities. By the time I stopped teaching at university, my stepson was already in junior high. His Septembers became an extension of mine.

But recently something turned, and now I sense an irritation in the air, like the high-pitched buzz of a cathode ray tube. I look for the source and begin to suspect it’s the static of society’s shared cognitive dissonance: as we resume our routine lives in a world that’s coming apart at the seams, we’re bound to feel...