Plague Journal, Fall Dreams
The days continue to be warm. Frost seems far away. Weather conditions can change suddenly though, within a few hours. The tilt of the 
earth is the primary determinant, as days are shorter, and there’s less energy with the oblique angle of the sun’s rays. Energy exchange is the story of life, and of death.
I’ve gathered several fall related photographs. The final blooms of the growing season make their appearance. These orange blossoms emerged in the garden by surprise, as if a gift. I had no part in their planting and cultivation. A great deal of ‘nature’ is like that.
The pumpkin is a symbol of Fall. This small pumpkin serves as the orange canvas for a grandchild’s painting. The interlaced impressions of green paint strike my mind as the form of a monstrous face. Did the child have that in mind as his fingers created the sticky trails of greenish pigment? I would not be surprised at all. All that is in the mind is not conscious.
One more painting. This one speaks for itself. The sun is never far away from our awareness. Children notice the sun more often and speak of it candidly. The sun is represented often in the artwork of children. This one, formed with a painted finger on the surface of a wooden step, is personified with a face. Is it not instinctive to lend personal attributes to natural phenomena?
The Halloween treatment of the octopus is delightful and weird. In life the 
octopus hasn’t bones, but the imaginary addition of a skeleton makes this a spellbinding and scary object. Kudos to the creators and makers!
