The Sudden Stop At the End

Photo by Will Newton/Getty ImagesAnd just like that, it was over.

I write these same words at the end of pretty much every season, for how many years now I don’t even remember. Unless you happen to win a championship, it seems like the end is always swift, and early, and not at all what you were hoping for.

And just like that, it was over.

I have walnut trees.

Big ones. One on either side of my house. The worst thing about them is the excess gutter maintenance they create; the second worst is the walnuts. Big, surprisingly heavy green orbs that fall off, particularly on days like several we’ve had recently, when the wind was blowing and there was a bit of a storm in the air. The walnuts fall,…