I see aspen trees as a fitting symbol for the retirement years. Last week, I asked the book cover guy if he could include them in his design. Why aspen?

1. On my favorite hikes, one finds aspen high on the mountain. Reach them, and the peaks (read “dreams we have spent a lifetime chasing”) can’t be far behind.

2. Aspen are most striking during autumn (read “later in life”). Expect my cover to show their bright, golden, leaves. I hope retirement will be like that, producing our most beautiful things in our autumn years.

3. Best of all, a stand of aspen trees (containing hundreds, even thousands of trunks) grows from a single set of roots. This makes the tree amazingly resilient, able to grow back quickly after forest fires and other calamities.

Also, it means aspen thrive best because they thrive together, which we, too, can do in these years. Close, supporting friends are what I’m counting on to make these the best years yet.

I hope you’ll think of this when you see the book’s cover.

Can’t wait to show it to you.