"Cosmos 1'' (mixed media), by CLAUDINE BING, in her show with Justine Freed, "Rhythms of the Universe: A Multimedia Collaboration,'' at Galatea Fine Art, Boston, Nov. 1-30.

There's a lovely little essay by Bill Miller in today's Boston Globe about life's flux and erosions, including of social relationships. This one is set in the affluent Boston suburb of Wellesley. (He now lives in the affluent exurb of Sherborn.)

"Like many events in our lives, we didn't see it coming. So we were kind of shellshocked when we exchanged sad goodbyes to the last family in the original neighborhood.'' Of course it is always coming, as is its analog death. Mr. Miller, like most people of his age, probably knows more dead people than living.

Something to think about walking  sidewalks  covered with yellow, crinkly leaves that have fallen more out of drought and  tree fatigue than cold.