Editorial September 2026

Dear Readers,

As the wind whistles through the trees and the first oak leaves begin to drift down to the ground here in New England, I am reminded that the tolling bells of a new school year can’t be far behind. It might sound like something out of Hogwarts, but when I was in elementary school in the 2010s, communications were still delivered by post. I’d look forward to the school supply list being mailed out to us with equal parts of dread and eager anticipation. Items like “protractor” gave clues to the new subjects we would tackle. The word “rag” in the art list confused me deeply one year. I remember puzzling over where we might buy a rag, until my mom tore up an old towel to settle that dilemma.

Beginnings can be difficult! A new academic calendar means that we’re once again facing down the blank page. I’ve always found that moment before anything is written, when we’re searching for the right words to say, that is hardest. When starting a hard new project, I think it can be tempting to wait until we have nothing else to distract us from the task at hand. However, “it’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish,” as J.R.R. Tolkien wrote brilliantly in the Fellowship of the Ring. This fall, I’m reminding myself that conditions will never be “just right.” We can only take the plunge.