The Season

Awash in imagination.

A backyard turned into the wild west. A raging battlefield. The torrents of an angry storm at sea. Such were the Fall days of my childhood.

I've always had a vivid imagination. It's a true blessing. Especially when I was a boy. I had plenty of friends to play with and a younger brother to terrorize. Yet somehow I almost always found myself playing alone outside. I made up vivid scenes I became the center of. Bank robberies. WWII battles. Cowboys and Indians. Motorcycle racing. My imagination never failed me, especially in the Fall.

I recall getting home from school and rushing through my homework to get it done and go play. I'd go into the basement of the garage and find my accessories of choice, whether they were toy guns, swords, or even just my bare hands (after catching a Bruce Lee movie on TNT).

The backyard was my sanctuary. My blank canvas. Playing in the afternoon sunlight amidst the raining leaves in late September. Test driving a super hero Halloween costume in mid October. Give me some free time and put me outside and I'd be entertained for hours. A mother's dream come true.

Now, as I'm back at home as the seasons change I'm reminded of those days. The smell of Fall is in the air. I love it. I relive those carefree days. The sounds of cicadas, the changing leaves and the start of school all take me back.

The transition from boy to man. The change from Summer to Fall. Each day I'm reminded of the constant change in my life. Some for the better. Perhaps some for the worse since I'll miss them. But all unstoppable, just like nature. Just like life.

So I embrace it. I close my eyes, breathe it in and live it up.

Now as a man my blank canvas is a bit bigger. But that boy still holds the brush. And I'm quite alright with that.

Stay Out of the Boiling Water!!

Tell me this is not the most bad ass thing to happen to tea since Long Island.

A bloody shark tea infuser.

How bad ass is that? It almost makes me want to drink tea.


Almost.