Summer has ended according to the temperature. Tonight promises a low of 34 degrees and tomorrow’s low will be well below freezing. In our neck of the woods, it seems to get cold…overnight. I went to see my friend…Electric Larry…this afternoon. He has the most interesting old Pop and nostalgic items. I kept fingering and admiring some small alabaster pieces and thinking that they reminded me of something. They were in the nicest little wicker basket. After nearly an hour of shopping, it dawned on me that the tiny soldiers were chess pieces. MJ and I had a wonderful set of Turtle Doves made of alabaster when we first were married. We purchased them at Famous Barr and were so proud of their acquisition. They probably were $15 or $20 dollars in the 1970s…but they were fine art to us. So I left EL with a handsome wicker basket of Alabaster Aztec Chess Pieces. Now they will soon have a field of battle with the hand-tooled leather chessboard that I just completed purchasing from Etsy.

Happiness is elusive. It always has been. Our Declaration of Independence promises us the right to pursue happiness…it does not assure us that we will catch the energetic elf… At times we are a bit too wrapped up in the pursuit of ‘My Precious’ as the literary character, Gollum, from The Lord of the Rings. ..as he sought the powerful ring. So it is with our time and place. We know if we eat the best foods and wear the finest of clothes and take the best holidays…we will find our hiding friend of happiness. If we are unhappy with ourselves…we travel as a panacea to find our happy personas. We have a good job…but we know that we would be happy…if we could just receive a promotion. If we have the automobile that we always wanted…soon our eyes are full of the next step-up in driving pleasure.

Why would anyone want to be the President of the United States? I wonder if this question has not occurred to each of the men who have held the office… Television has assured us…for my entire life…that to be happy you need to buy the right soap…use the right deodorant…drink the right soft drink…and of late we know that we would feel much happier if we just could convince our doctor to give us the right pharmaceutical.

People make me happy. A smile from another human being…warms my heart. Genuine concern for my well-being…brings laughter and lightness off being… But…what makes me happy without fail…is to help someone. Not to assess their needs on a scale of 1 to 10…but to reach out a hand of fellowship to those who have not felt any kindness…in a long time… When I hear the testimonials of children who are suffering from cancer…and I witness their courage…I wonder as the parking attendant asked me in the garage in Philedelphia, ‘What you crying about…Mon?’