Knee Deep

The holiday season is creeping up on us like the second hand in a scary movie. No one hears the ticking sound until the camera zeroes in on the gothic clock on the wall and the last few seconds tick off in slow motion. Will we make it out of the holiday Twilight Zone before the clock strikes twelve? We may, but it will take some strategic maneuvering at the grocery store this year. 

A sleuth figure slips through the night, and all evidence points to a return of Mr. Pumpkin, the vigilante gourd representing Pumpkin Nation. Math and science seem to support the sudden flip-up in last week's podcast of the author's pumpkin pie at a local diner, but you can crunch the numbers yourself. Hostilities have been stirred again, and Mr. Pumpkin, one spicy character, wants a piece of the action. 

The neutrality of pumpkins, long thought to be associated with their lack of taste and character, reveals itself as an immutable law of both nature and eating pumpkin pie. Equilibrium, when upset, can have an inverse effect on pie wedges, and our ability to stay mentally stable.

Want to know how to live to be 100 years old? My father's legacy isn't his longevity, but his ability to appreciate the freedoms that avail us all as Americans, to honor them by serving and ultimately to be willing to sacrifice when up against adversity. 

Orange. Is it a word emblematic of a season, or is its colorful history disguise for something more sinister at Halloween? Orange. Say it again. Orange.

Ordering a drink at a local coffee shop comes with the details of heartache, and an almost forgotten birthday. A betrayed trust brings pain in double shifts, but we are reminded that, even though pain is inevitable, we don't have to suffer alone.

Congratulations go out to the author, who received an insurance award celebrate Unknown Level of Achievement. When he receives word for his new insurance status in bold letters on a huge manilla envelope, visions of stardom, fame and fortune are anticipated, and humbling.

Witnessing Hurricane Ian's devastating path and  subsequent  destruction of life and property in Florida, we can take pause to be thankful for our own ephemeral  well being. Perhaps we can take time, to pause and reflect on God's ultimate power over nature, and see his hand in the mercies that rise from overwhelming loss. 

The author recounts a near disastrous spider encounter and generational benefits of good spider mental health.

Two cowboys lament over having to give away their cattle on a lonely and desperate cattle drive in the Old West.