The long shadows of the autumn sun...

But then fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.

― Stephen King from the book: Salem's Lot

The rains will come soon enough. For now, after days of fog, we have sun, and the trees are beautiful, and their shadows long. It is a beautiful time of year.

Perhaps fall is sitting in a favourite chair at the Sylvia Hotel. Filling an afternoon with stories...

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2013.

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

The story begins with Linus as he writes a letter to The Great Pumpkin:  Dear Great Pumpkin. I'm looking forward to your arrival on Halloween night. I hope you will bring me lots of presents.

His friend Charlie Brown arrives and puzzles over his friend asking "Who are you writing to, Linus?"





Linus replies "This is the time of the year to write to the Great Pumpkin. On Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of his pumpkin patch and flies through the air with his bag of toys for all the children."

"You must be crazy" says Charlie Brown. "When are you going to stop believing in something that isn't true?"

"When you stop believing in that fellow with the red suit and white beard who goes HO! HO! HO!"

Charlie Brown responds "We are obviously separated by denominational differences."

Later on Halloween night, Lucy, Charlie Brown's little sister is angry for waiting with Linus for the Great Pumpkin, while everyone else was out getting treats (except Charlie Brown of course).

"I was robbed! I spent the whole night waiting for the Great Pumpkin, when I could've been out for tricks-or-treats!" She gasps in recognition at what she has just said. "Halloween is over and I missed it! You blockhead! You kept me up all night waiting for the Great Pumpkin, and all that came was a beagle! I didn't get a chance to go out for tricks-or-treats! And it was all your fault! I'll sue! What a fool I was! I could've had candy, apples, and gum! And cookies and money and all sorts of things! But no! I had to listen to you. You blockhead. What a fool I was. Trick-or-treats come only once a year, and I miss it by sitting in a pumpkin patch with a blockhead. YOU OWE ME RESTITUTION!"


It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown was first shown on CBS in 1966. It was from the Peanuts comic strip that first appeared in newspapers in 1950. The creator was the much loved Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000).

Photos and above pumpkin by Jim Murray. The pumpkin to the right is by a non-believer (in the Great Pumpkin). Copyright 2013.

Paths less travelled

Recently, in the fog, Sherry and I hiked the paths and trails around Cleveland Dam on the North Shore. It was good exercise, and refreshing to be almost alone in the forest.

















For some reason, the paths we hiked reminded me of parts of The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck (1936 - 2005). I read the book in the mid 1980s, and all his books thereafter. His words about a spiritual life, grace, evil, and suffering resonated with me then, as they do now. As I recall, Peck began with the line: Life is difficult.

Choosing paths in a forest, in a city, or in life, can be difficult. Does this one lead us somewhere, or in a circle? Will we find our way back if we take this one? Are we there yet Dad?



Each one of us must make his own path through life. There are no self-help manuals, no formulas, no easy answers. The right road for one is the wrong road for another...The journey of life is not paved in blacktop; it is not brightly lit, and it has no road signs. It is a rocky path through the wilderness.                  - M. Scott Peck

                           
Returning to the city, and ultimately, albeit several days later, to a brief moment of sunshine, pathways returned to us, and they were beautiful.

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. 
We ourselves must walk the path.       - Buddha

Sometimes the path is clear. Sometimes the walk is the easy part. And often, neither is obvious.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2013.