The Lion was here today. Hold on to my new hat weather. Winter is holding us with a loose grip. Dry leaves under the foot where snow was. Many clouds in the blue sky. Some were dark.

Have you seen a movie or television show set? How about the TV Set of your favorite newscast? It is said that tours of The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson were underwhelmed when they saw what the brilliant television image of the couch and desk looked like on TV as opposed to what it actually was in real life.

So it goes with our perception of reality. The Television image in high definition is better than the actual product. On TV, our favorite characters conduct an exciting life in a beautiful home and lovely town. In reality, once they enter the doorway of their magnificent home, there is nothing there but a soundstage. The glamorous performers are unrecognizable without their professionally applied makeup. Many of them are not people friendly. The actors seem to have it all together before the camera. They may be thinking about the most troubling things and caught in the throes of drugs or depression.

Roger Ebert said shortly before he died that, ‘This is all an elaborate hoax,’ referring to life. What did he see…?

Are we living on the Soundstage with plywood fronts…or is this the Heaven we read about, as Charlton Heston said after The Planet Of The Apes, ‘You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!’