Autumn is upon us, and the trees are already starting to brighten the skyline. As we move toward Samhain/Halloween, the veil between the living and the dead becomes thinner. Less obstructive. This period of time is the best to reach out and touch those loved ones who have departed the earthly plane. And hope that someone from the other side doesn’t reach out and touch you in the darkness of night…while you are sleeping…without your permission. Right?
Here in Indiana, the air is filled with soybean dust right now as the farmers harvest their fields. It is also bow season, so you really have to watch out in those early morning hours of dawn while the dew is still floating in the air or in the evening right after the sunset. The other morning when I came into work at 2 am, I see this white tail bouncing along at the edge of the road. It amazes me that one lone doe was awake when the rest of the world was asleep.
You probably wonder why I was going to work at 2 am…we worked with our labor unions to hold a benefit cookout for the victims of Hurricane Helene. The money we raised will be donated to Samaritan’s Purse, one of the first groups with boots on the ground alongside the Cajun Navy and Mountain Mule Packer Ranch. For as heartbreaking as the devastation and loss of life has been, I have newly discovered hope that there are still good people willing to throw on their boots and do what is needed to help their fellow Americans.
As always, autumn remains my favorite time of the year and my busiest. I celebrated my birthday on Tuesday and received not one…but three…bouquets of flowers. Thank you to my daughters, my awesome PA, and my almost brother-in-law and his girlfriend for the fabulous treat of my favorite flowers! I also received a beautiful custom painting by Karma Moon of a crow with a sunflower and protection sigils from my youngest daughter. I treated myself to a brand-new suitcase for my upcoming trips as well as an air purifier for the living room. I already had one in my bedroom that has made an incredible difference.
Tonight, my daughters and I are going to do a girls’ night and go to the drive-in movie in Wabash. It’s going to be a Pet Sematary and Friday the 13th kind of night. With daughters and wine and snacks. Tomorrow, there’s a cookout for local writers in the afternoon then another evening with the girls for wine, snacks and witchy crafts. We are going to make our own besoms to sweep the negativity right out of our homes and lives.
Next week, I’m off to Lake Geneva, WI for a long weekend writing retreat with two of my favorite fellow authors. I think we are going to do a boat tour of the lake and a ghost tour one evening. I bet the leaves are in colorful splendor around the lake. I hope to get a lot of fantastic photos.
I chatted with my sister-in-law last evening about the plans for my trip to Phoenix at the end of the month where I will be at Books in the Desert on November 2nd. We are going to spend Halloween at Tombstone…can you say ghosts galore? I’m sure that I’ll pull a book out of this trip…just you wait and see! I’m being told that the temperatures are still hovering close to 100 degrees, so there are some tanning bed trips during my lunch breaks leading up to this trip.
I had some extra time the other day to plot out some day trips for our trip to Ireland in November/December. There are castles, cliffs, waterfalls, colorful villages, islands, sheep, food, music, pubs…so much to do and see…so little time. I think at some point I’m going to have to go for a month…or more. The car is rented but I made the dumb mistake of not paying attention and ended up renting a manual transmission…not that I can’t drive one…that’s what I learned to drive on under my father’s scrutiny. But who wants to adjust to driving on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road and use my left hand to shift? Our cottage is at the outskirts of Miltown Malbay on the Wild Atlantic Way just a short walk from Spanish Point Beach. This beach is where the Spanish Armada ships wrecked off the coast in 1588. Those Spaniards who survived the wreckage were then executed by Sir Turlough O’Brien of Liscannor and it is believed they were buried in a mass grave at that location. Might have to take a late-night walk along that beach and see if there are any spirits lurking about.
Well, I’m going to close on that note…well…except to let you know that right now you can get an eBook copy of my latest release Watermelon Moonshine for 99 cents through next week! Here are the links:
Happy autumn and happy reading!!
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