‘The Days grow short when you reach September,’ Frank Sinatra told us. Oh my, how prophetic he was! The leaves are changing, the cool breeze is blowing, and my thoughts turn to October delights and the Old Man’s Birthday. Indeed I have become the Old Man in the poem. I love the Wind In The Willows, Kenneth Grahame’s novel in 1908. It is then the story of Mole and Ratty and Badger’s constant efforts to help Mr. Toad.

I recall my joy in watching an adaption of The Wind In The Willows on the Disney Channel prior to our attending church on Sunday. I think that I enjoyed it more than Aaron and Jonathon.

Our Maine sailing excursion caused me to consider how I would enjoy life on the sea. The vast peaceful ocean would cause me to not worry about the concerns of the land lovers. Of course, there would be the whales and sharks for excitement…and the storms…

My Birthday approaches on October 24. I have become the Old Man Of The Sea. My life-long friend Jeff found my twin in Italy.

I noticed on our recent trip to Maine that the reason that I like it so well…is rest. Contentment in the little towns and hamlets of Down East Maine is the norm of the day. If you have ever wondered why a person would want to live on a sailboat you would have needed to go no further than our Schooner Captain and his explanation of the joys of sailing. Even one drunken loudmouth on the two-hour tour. I have always been amazed that some decide to get inebriated and control the experience of others with no thought except to their profound brilliance.

Our abode was fascinating and filled with art and books and the house could almost talk and perhaps did. We searched for lighthouses and saw four which is a record for us.

I entered my favorite store in Wiscasset and the nice lady at the counter immediately recognized me and mentioned that I had purchased the Goat Man last year. This year it was two little Deer… Last year Jonathon bought me a leather pencil from Germany. Just down from the little shop is Red’s Eats and Aaron, Brock Marcy and Jonathon stood in line for close to 2 hours for the privilege of consuming a Lobster Roll from Red’s. It was delicious…was it worth a 2-hour wait…probably not.

Graywoods had a magnificent bell that when I rang it let out a sound like I have not heard a bell make in years. The sound of a Bald Eagle screeching is like nothing that I have heard. The BW has a commanding presence!

The Flagship store for L.L. Bean at Freeport made it on our list of stops not once but twice. I always find something that I want at L.L. Bean since the days that Berl and Fernie bought me L.L. Bean Houseshoes for Christmas.

Our favorite restaurant at Camden is a special joy each year that we visit. Called Dockside and sitting just adjacent to the bay and the boats moving through the area is nirvana. They also have wonderful Dirty Martinis.

Marcy and Brock made this trip the best of our six times being in Maine. We laughed about Puddin and Big Girl and Temu…as well as the disembodied voice saying, ‘Hi…Hello…Are you settling in?’ Emily came and brightened our day! MJ and my shower truly ran hot and cold…without warning… Watching my brother I now plan on purchasing some White Claw. Aaron did the driving which adds immeasurably to my holiday!

Jonathon and Emily saw 2 whales on a Whale Tour that yielded no Whale last year so they received a return engagement for free. We had a truly memorable breakfast in Bath. Brock and I now have another matching tattoo of a lighthouse. I got my first tattoo when I was 60 and the lighthouse at 65…looking forward to 70!

MJ just told me that the voice that we both heard in Maine in the house that was built before the Civil War said, ‘Hi…Hello…Getting Settled.’ I only heard, ‘Hello…Hello.’ So, the plot thickens… I have been reminiscing and the occurrence in Maine is one of the few times in my life that I have experienced an unexplainable phenomenon. There was a bit of a feeling about the old house that felt like someone more was with us and yet remained in the shadows. The feeling was palpably eerie on Wednesday night when we arrived at the historic dwelling. It was very hot and yet when I turned the thermostats on to air conditioning and the little cool icon came up…nothing happened. When I called the property manager and told him of my concern that one of the thermostats was not responding…he noted that none of the thermostats was going to produce AC and there was none in the house except perhaps the Green Room.

A spiritual quest has been my life. I have regularly sought to understand and know God better. Through the years of searching, I have found that two elements are key to understanding our Creator. A primary prerequisite is to love your fellow human as yourself. Jesus told his disciples that within this truth lay all of the law and the prophets. The second requirement is to have an open mind to there being a reality that we can not see.

‘I think a Halloween Party is in order,’ said Jane with a winsome smile.

‘Why not have it in the Orpheum Theatre…John the owner said that he would screen Frankenstein for us and that he would provide all of the popcorn and Coca-Cola and candy bars that our hearts desire, Chet added.

‘I will slip in some Jack Daniels Whisky for the Coke,’ Neva J. said with a devilish grin.

‘I hear that the Orpheum is haunted and that the ghosts come out once it is closed for the evening,’ Billy B. said with a wink.

The Theatre was full of the invitees to the Halloween Party. There was Buddy dressed as the Wizard Of Oz and Daryl as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice and The Wiz as his natural garments and inclination would indicate…The Wizard. The Wiz had something up his billowing sleeves. As Frankenstein played on the silver screen…down the theatre aisle came Renfield to say a few words. ‘I thought that you were in the Bram Stoker book Dracula and now you are appearing in our Frankenstein Halloween Party,’ Chet asked?

‘Yes you are correct Chet but there is a labor shortage in the Horror World…I have come to tell you that tonight you will hear disembodied voices and feel etheral presence…and when you leave the Orpheum you will never be the same again,’ Renfield said with a hideous gravelike laugh…

‘Hello…Hello…Getting Settled,’ said the voice as Billy B. walked home.

‘I like Maine…,’ Billy B. thought…as he unpacked his luggage.

I watched an interesting movie titled No One Will Save You. It had one sentence of dialogue that was intelligible. The movie focuses on a young woman, Bryn, and her isolation in her late parent’s home. She dances and lives her fabricated reality…until the aliens come. Then the aliens chase her and take over the world…and almost her as well.
She runs from them and eludes them all over their town where it is painfully obvious that she is not welcome with a woman in the bank spitting in her face. The film reminded me of the old movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers as the aliens crawled in through the mouths of their human prey. Although many were inside the defeated humans many more were outside and looked much like the Greys that those who claim to have been abducted by aliens say that they looked. The movie concluded by revealing why Bryn was shunned by the towns folk and after she had been abducted by one of the flying saucers and an alien discovered why she was isolated they ended the movie by showing her in a dance number with many humans who had been taken over by aliens earlier and her joy in finally having a community that she was a part of.

At times we are a bit like Bryn. We isolate or are isolated by others and long for community. The community comes looking for us and we accept joyfully only to later find that it is a cult controlled by a

Puppetmaster.

Our alien observers look on from their sky perch…as we dance for them…

As the cool breeze of Autumn blows through the Writing Room I am reminded of today being the first day of the rest of my life. What does that mean in reality and not in the abstract? Each morning we are new. The shackles of habit and darkness of thoughts that hold us back from what we seek to achieve are no longer in control of us. When you reach a fork in the road…do not stop for dinner but rather take the path that yields the most positive destination for you.

Billy B. was a sad little boy. He had lived through his mom and dad getting divorced and witnessed the extreme emotional suffering of his beloved mom. Billy B. had gone from his favorite beverage of whole milk to powdered milk which made him nauseous. He had felt the stinging stairs of not having nice clothes to wear and his pants legs being too short and thus being nicknamed ‘High Waters.’ When the entire rest of his first-grade class was eating lunch in the lunch room that cost a measly 20 cents per day he ate his lunch in the classroom out of a paper bag due to the penury of his mom and he. Billy B. stood with Neva J. in the Commodity Line and saw the men throw the food on the ground from the back of semi-trucks where the careless or perhaps not caring men pitched it to the hungry throng. Billy B.’s outlook on life during this dire period was a bit bleak. During this overcast time, Billy B. realized Neva J. was counting on him to be the man of the house and that his attitude affected her feelings. Billy B. decided to change and look on the bright side of life…

Most habits that seem to have a stranglehold on our lives are really only wearing their Dime Store Halloween Costumes. When Frankenstein removes his mask he is a grinning and happy lad from Eldorado…

People were everywhere at Giant City this morning. They know it is the first day of fall. Many of them were hiking and exploring and even a young man in a Park Service uniform was present. The leaves have begun to change color and several are already falling. Many folks were walking their dogs and some of them two at a time. We, humans, enjoy many similar things. When you think about it the most pleasant aspect of living on Earth is the Earth. I love collectibles and art but they are at their best mere representations of the natural beauty and supreme splendor of our home.

Having recently returned from our Maine Holiday I noted that we relished the house that we stayed in that had been built before the Civil War and our search for the best seafood was exciting…nothing compared with the abundant beauty that was all around us. When I immerse myself in the truth of the woods and the ocean I wonder, as the parking attendant told me in Philadelphia when I did not want to leave the keys to our rental car in the driver’s seat and the windows down, ‘What you crying about Mon?’

‘Let us go hiking at Giant City State Park,’ Billy B. exclaimed!

‘After all, it is the first day of Autumn…and the leaves are changing colors,’ Chet replied.

‘Are the snakes in their dens or wherever it is that they stay,’ Jane asked with fright?

‘I will pack some Merlot as I read that they do not like the smell of red wine,’ Neva J. said with a giggle.

‘This trail is the most dense and winding that I have ever been on,’ Billy B. remarked. ‘It is as if it doubles back on itself and we never seem to reach the end of it although it said that it was 1 mile we have been walking for over 2 hours,’ said Billy B.

‘Ahead it a clearing and I think that it high time for a wine and hot dog break…and I have some cheese as well, said Neva J.

‘You know that in the early days, glaciers flattened the land in most of Illinois and that is why Little Egypt is so different than the rest of Illinois. You do realize that glaciers swept across most of the land in Illinois the Illinoan glacier went as far as Carbondale in Southern Illinois,’
Chet said with a wink.

‘Is that why the topography is so different in the southern part of the state as compared to the rest of it,’ Jane asked?

‘Indeed it is…we live in a very unique region and that is why tourists love our area of the country so much, Chet smiled.

A Neva J. poured everyone another glass of Merlot and handed out the Oscar Mayer Weiners Chet said that he would like his fresh from the plastic.

‘I think I see a clearing from the trail just ahead,’ Jane called out.

‘Good day, my friends…I am Louis Jolliet and my partner is Jacques Marquette…we are a bit lost…could you direct us back to our camp,’ asked Louis?

As I was puttering around this morning I thought that I felt a bit better than usual and then it dawned on me the Elixr Of Fall. MJ and I were in St. Louis for the past couple of days and we enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Bartilinos thus I changed my birthday plans for the third and final time to Bartilinos. A perfect birthday celebration for me is a movie at the Landmark Theatre at Frontenac and a dinner at Bartilinos.

I am amazed at how fast September is getting away from us! The first of my four favorite months will soon be over. I have been photographing the first leaf color changes and soon the trees will be resplendent in their coats of many colors. MJ says that she would like to see the Northern Lights…I am ready to go.

I retired and I considered that I had the good possibility of a few choice years of early retirement… But, the retirement years go by more rapidly than the work years…and they were like the blink of an eye.

While I was in Eldorado last Saturday I reminisced what it looked like over 50 years ago. There was quite a bit of commerce and bustling about. I enjoyed buying my Halloween Costume from the Ben Franklin Dime Store. I loved horror and science fiction movies. My cousin Billy and I made our own 8-millimeter film of the Creature From The Black Lagoon. I played the Creature and wore Billy’s Creature mask which was compelling. I also wore the Creature From The Black Lagoon’s Creature Hands. It was a scary sight! In those halcyon days, we trick-or-treated without our parents accompanying us. Everyone knew everyone in Eldorado. I relished the plastic pumpkin that I collected my booty in. No paper bag for me… Neva J. seemed to take as much joy in my ill-gotten gains as I did. Once when I asked her who the devil was she said that she was and gave a wicked grin.

Edgar Allen Poe was my favorite author. I gave oral book reports on some of his stories and portrayed all of the parts. I watched the original version of The Haunting which was taken from the Shirley Jackson book The Haunting Of Hill House. It was and still is the scariest movie that I have ever seen. In one scene two of the female characters are sharing a bedroom in the haunted house and are sleeping in twin beds that are on either wall of the massive room. The Haunting never shows a ghost or monster but rather the house is the malevolent entity. After one of the women is awakened by some extreme knocking and bizarre house noises she asks her friend to not hold her hand so tightly. She repeats this entreaty until she has awoken the other woman, who I learned years later was romantically interested in her, and the woman says that she is not holding her hand. She turns the lights on to reveal her arm and hand are draped outside the bed… To this day I will not drape my arm and hand outside my bed…

Fall brings us the closing of botanical life for the year. Trees and flowers appear to die…but they return in the Spring… Fall assures us that we are loved. Life slows down a bit and hope ties it’s platform shoes. It is time to have some fun chills and some thankfulness and to turn our attention to helping others.

Just over two weeks ago we began our wonderful visit to Maine. We had anticipated the journey for over a year. Finally Wednesday evening after a long day of hurry up and wait we were there. Our accommodations were built before the Civil War and were one of the most interesting homes that I have ever stayed in. As we unloaded the luggage and began taking the suitcases into the old and large home we heard a woman’s voice call out, ‘Hello…Hello,’ and I assumed that someone must be in the residence. Calling in response brought no answer…there was no one there.

Screech…was the sound that woke us and I found it a bit disconcerting until I realized that it was a bald eagle. Soon the Screech was music to my ears. On our first night, we had lively and fun discussions as to whether or not we should leave the doors unlocked and the windows open on the ground floor due to there being no air conditioning other than in the bedroom that MJ and I slept in. I enjoyed telling some spontaneous ghost stories which had added effect after the unexplained Hello. The incredible home was secluded and the rustic environment was enticing…until darkness fell.

There was a strange and mysterious staircase as well. Where the stairs led to we can not say as they were complicated to traverse. I wondered if the Hello Woman lived at the bottom. Our discussions over cards led us to ruminate as to all of the people who had lived in the house. What lives had been seen and experienced and what deaths had sadly transpired.

If the house in Maine could only talk…or perhaps it did…

Autumn contains the quiet times. Our world slows down a bit. Reflection and thought are more easily accessible. Hope is turned to more frequently. Pumpkins and Pumpkin Spice haunt our dreams and we think of loved ones who have passed from us. The joy that they brought us and the seeming assurance that it was always going to be as it was in our most splendid times together.

Some have money and plenty of it. They tell us to do as they have done and act as they act and we too will be rich. Others have power and authority and know that they are God’s gift…they assume. Still, others preach to us and demand that we believe their doctrine and respect their arduous study and their personal pipeline to heaven.

We yearn to understand. We feel the hope of the unseen. Peace is our welcome companion. Our ‘Betters’ say to us, ‘Follow me and I will lead you…you know that you require a leader,’ while we hear an inner voice that is a still small wind and it comforts us in our distress.

Detective is our profession and mystery is our vocation. What is beyond the veil? Is death simply God’s Other Door and when we walk through it…we will understand the Secret?

There is a lovely fall breeze blowing through the writing room. I have seen my first leaves changing colors. My Fall Spirits are lifted. Last week was simply a wonderful time in Maine. We sailed and hunted for lighthouses and ate Red’s Lobster Roll. It is cooler today in Southern Illinois than it was in Maine for most of our stay. There was even a Bald Eagle’s nest on a little island just off Graywoods and it screeched a memorable cry. When we arrived at the empty house MJ and I distinctly heard a woman’s voice call out, ‘Hello…Hello,’ and try as we might we attempted to answer her but she did not reply.

So, I heard a quote from a book on the life of Edgar Cayce where he referred to ‘God’s Other Door,’ and I liked the sound of it. One thing is for certain…we are uncertain about life after death. The great actress Betty White said before she died that we soon find out what the secret is.

Life is the greatest mystery. Have you ever seen an automobile wreck and thought that if you had been a few seconds ahead of your location on the road it could have been you? Seemingly minor or inconsequential choices make for major life changes. I began my career at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale as a Building Service Worker I but spent the majority of my time there as a member of management/administration.

Ghost stories make a chill go up our spine. We are entering the time of year when they will be prolific. When we moved to Eldorado from Chicago in the fall of 1963 we truly moved into a haunted house. I was 5 years old and my world had been turned upside down. I slept on a cot in the utility room. The house creaked and groaned and I heard whispering. On one occasion I heard a voice proclaim that I was meaner than the devil…when I asked in what way…silence.

So what is the Secret that Betty White spoke of? Is it a narrow view of the afterlife that our church dogma has taught us…or is it as big as God…