Autumn, Busyness, and a Pause

Autumn, Busyness, and a Pause

Hello, faithful readers. I realize it’s been some time since I’ve posted a blog, for which I offer no

excuses other than to say that life has a way of making creative pursuits seem less important. Of

course, this is untrue. Life and work may fill the bank account, but creativity fills the soul. This

being said, I always promise myself that I will be more consistent with writing, creating, and

blogging, and then day-to-day stuff gets in the way, and other priorities can seem more

important.

Halloween, with each year that we come further away from the lockdown (due to the virus that

shall remain unnamed), greater numbers of kids are coming out for trick-or-treat. The difference

I’ve noticed, is that the costumes were princesses, anime characters, cartoon characters, and one

adorable little girl who was dressed as a skunk, (so cute, comical, and sweet), and a host of

others. Gone are the ghoulish, gore, zombies, and other scary stuff. Eh, not that I have anything

against these themes, because I don’t. (Especially those of you who are familiar with some of my

ghost stories!) It just seems that people, kids in particular, are desiring a return to a more

innocent and kinder time, and personally, I’m all for it.

November: It’s like the weather finally got the memo that it is autumn! At last, it has cooled off

and last night, a wonderfully gusty wind blew in a storm that produced a few hours of a

desperately needed downpour! After months without rain, it honestly felt like the kiss of God! It

looks like more is on the way, this evening, and here in the Central Valley, we’ll take every drop

we can get! And of course, the naysayers state that this won’t make a dent in our protracted

drought conditions, but just the same, we’ll take every drop we can get!

Before we know it, Thanksgiving will be upon us. It gets curiously overlooked in favor of the

screaming retail slide into the Christmas season. So much so, in fact, that it’s common in various

retail places to see Halloween merchandise alongside Christmas trees, lights, reindeer, and Santa

Claus stuff. It seems at once, both funny and odd. And, of course, on the heels of being thankful

and grateful, people are getting trampled in the Black Friday crush.

Thanksgiving... It has to be my favorite holiday, to be honest. At least for the few days leading

up, there’s no pressure to buy anything, (except for turkey, and all of the other amazing food!)

and it’s a time to be with friends and family, to dress up, and to enjoy each other’s company,

however that looks for each person, couple, family, or groups of friends. For better or worse, we

come together, and we get the opportunity to actually be together. Hopefully, it is a day to be

consciously grateful for all of our many blessings. Perhaps we can extend that feeling; that

purposeful gratitude, throughout our daily lives. If negativity can become a habit, then it seems

logical that gratitude can, as well.

There is no shortage of terrible things in the world, and it seems like the carnage and troubles are

endless. And maybe this is why Halloween costumes have taken on a different timbre. As the

days grow shorter and the trees don their vibrant colors, may these holidays fall gently and

kindly upon you and yours.

-Frank