Halloweenish

I'm amazed by the lengths so many people now go to when it comes to decorating their house and front yard for Halloween. So much for carving a pumpkin and putting a candle in it as a signal to kids that there might be goodies at the door.

At first glance, the house above looks relatively modest in terms of its decorations. But wait -- when you walk past, the cat seems to come to life! It turns from side to side and moans, and appears as though it's about to pounce. Yikes!

More and more graveyard sites like this are showing up in all of our neighbourhoods. Some of them seem downright grisly, with bones and amputations, complete with what looks like blood. I think, as a child, I may well have been frightened off if I'd encountered one of these. Must have been an even bigger wuss than I am now.

Whether these graveyards come with ghosts or not remains to be seen. Maybe tonight they'll show up. Who knows.

Boo!

A-scrunching we will go...

What a day for a walk through a beautiful forest preserve -- an amazing site dedicated to students and outdoor ed.

And all the while I was scrunching through leaves here, Greta Thunberg was leading a march in Vancouver, one that followed on the heels of the announcement that a group of students from across the country have sued the federal government for their lack of action on the climate emergency.

Good days for the Earth, our home sweet home.

Who knows?

Election day in Canada, and who knows what the result will be.

The flag out in the field holds its own foggy prediction, encouraging my hope -- that even the wind appears to be sending it to the left.

We'll see what tonight's results reveal.

Quite the pair!

I love these two Buddhas, sharing a laugh. They look to me like the epitome of what friendship means.

Yet today isn't a day when I'm celebrating Buddhism. Rather, I'm thinking about friendship. This is partly because a group of longtime friends celebrated a big birthday last weekend. It's also because today marks the birth date of Eleanor Roosevelt, a best friend to one of my heroes, Amelia Earhart.

The two of them shared many values, especially their vision of full equality for women. They also both hoped for peace, yet another goal I continue to hope for.

Best of all, they shared many good times, and the joy of flying was part of that.

I suppose, in addition to wanting to celebrate Eleanor, I'm getting excited at the thought of the tv show that's coming up just over a week from now. When I was in Kansas this summer, a crew from National Geographic was doing interviews and filming key persons in Atchison during the Amelia Earhart Festival. I suspect that my mentor and friend Louise Foudray should have something to say during that presentation. I sure hope she hasn't wound up on the cutting room floor. To see a preview of the program scheduled to air on October 21st, follow this link -- then scroll down to the words, "Expedition Amelia" for a sneak peek at what's in store.

But now, here's to Eleanor, and to long lasting friendships, wherever and when we may find them. Something to be grateful for always, but maybe especially on this Thanksgiving weekend.

Finding beauty

I'll admit to often finding beauty in odd places, spots where many people might just walk past. That was the case with this colourful assortment of autumny leaves, strewn across the stairwell outside my local library. I'd left my camera in the car, and decided I had to go back for it, as I knew the colours would fade or someone would come along and sweep them away. And yes, I realize they're placed sideways, but there's something I like about the unbalanced balance of the image that way.

Yesterday, with no camera in hand (I was driving, so not allowed, a good thing) I was struck by the sight of a straggly 'v' of geese flying across the afternoon's blue sky.

And then, beside me was a field of pumpkins, looking smallish but bright orange, all aglow with the promise of Thanksgiving and Halloween.

Strange, perhaps, but I love finding beauty in the world, especially when so many aspects of contemporary life seem to insist on being ugly. Better, I find, to look for the bright spots which mostly turn out be elements of nature. Yet another aspect of beauty to consider and maybe meditate on.