Leaves change but the earth abides

Damien Enright on the beauty of a November morning.

WHEN the sun shines in Ireland in November and the wind blows away the clouds, it is easy to forget the gloom. Like Americans on the morning of Barack Obama’s victory, we wake in another country.

Here, the dark days will return, part of the natural cycle of the seasons. There, we hope that whatever the weather, the glittering future will not fade. It is a great country, America, and it was tragic to see its ideals sullied by the Bush-Cheney gang. The measures necessary to restore its economic stability may impact on Ireland but, in the long term, an America that begins to achieves the ideals of its own constitution will be a beacon of hope for humanity.