I was listening to former President Obama and Tom Hanks talk of parenthood faith and how it changes as we get older. One of their perspectives was that things look different the closer you get to the end of your life. I reflected we are so different yet so alike. We notice the little things more realizing they are the big things. Good food good friends…laughing till our sides hurt. How the sun looks at sunset. How good a good cup of coffee is.

The old movies were called Flicks. The movie projectors of that time made a flicking sound as the frames soared by. Such are the days of our lives. If we do not look quick they are gone memories. When MJ and I saw Seinfeld perform last Saturday night I thought of how life had changed since his show was first run on television in the 90s. When we entered the 90s the decade seemed so mysterious much as the cartoon The Jetsons. It was the last decade of the century. I had not considered that I probably would be a person who would live in two centuries. I remember watching a Seinfeld episode in the hotel on our Great Western Vacation and thinking how much I enjoyed the series. When Seinfeld concluded its run I collected the four TV Guide covers with a Seinfeld main character on the front of each. TV Guide was a collectible magazine in its day…just ask Frank Costanza.

Understanding each other is a long road. Our life experiences bring us to different conclusions. Understanding comes from active listening. Listening with no agenda to speak. Listening like you do with your favorite pet to understand their rhythms and rhymes.

The sun is setting over the trees on the far side of the pond. The trees have a golden hue against the pale blue sky. The Bullfrog Quartet is practicing their Friday Night Concert. They are in good voice. They know fall is here. Sounds good to them. The Bullfrogs have a sense of place. They notice the little things. The little things are their reason for singing. Life is a magical dance in the moonlight. There is a bit of fairy dust on our shoulders as we wake up each morning. We have a special joy when we think of the journey, we are going home.

‘It is another made to order fall day,’ Chet said. ‘This is the time when I want to read write and think great thoughts,’ Chet continued. ‘Great people have great thoughts,’ Chet mused. ‘President Kennedy said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country,’ Chet quoted. ‘Not how much money can I make,’ Chet observed. ‘I would love to ask JFK what he would have done had he not been assassinated,’ Chet proclaimed. ‘Many in that day believed he was destined for greatness,’ Chet said softly. ‘We believed he was cut down by the assassins bullet before he could achieve his mission, Chet noted. ‘Does your antique floor length magic mirror still work,’ Chet asked Neva J?

‘Yes, let us go to November 21, 1963 and talk with him in Texas,’ Neva J suggested. ‘We will go to the Hotel Texas Suite 850 in Ft. Worth where he and the First Lady were resting,’ Neva J said. ‘Jackie accompanied him to Dallas although she did not enjoy campaigning,’ Neva J continued. ‘President Kennedy had been cautioned to not go to Dallas but felt he must for the upcoming Presidential Election,’ Neva J explained. ‘Kennedy had been well received by the crowds gathered to cheer for him and shake hands with the First Lady,’ Neva J mentioned.

‘Mr. President, there are three people from the future who would like a few minutes with you to hear your plans for the remainder of your term,’ Secret Service Agent Cliff Hill said. ‘They say they are from 2026 and they cannot reveal anything about the future,’ Agent Hill noted. ‘They look like regular folks,’ Agent Hill smiled.

‘Welcome come in,’ President Kennedy said. ‘Are you with a news outlet in Ft. Worth,’ Kennedy asked? ‘Jackie and I have visited with several today,’ Kennedy smiled his winning smile. ‘If you are from the future what is it like 63 years from now,’ Kennedy gently inquired. ‘As for my plans for the remainder of my term and hopefully as second term I want to end the war in Vietnam,’ Kennedy said. ‘We must learn to live in peace…’we all breathe the same air we all love our children’, Kennedy said with confidence. ‘Some of my advisors are lying to me and when I return to D.C. I am going to deal with their removal and replacement,’ Kennedy winked. ‘Remember the Bay of Pigs…what a fiasco,’ Kennedy said with emphasis. ‘We are a great country and are unworthy of lies by politicians,’ Kennedy leaned back in his special rocking chair that he had brought to Texas from the Oval Office due to his bad back. ‘I have seen first hand what war can do and I do not want it…we can be better,’ Kennedy noted with calm assurance. ‘Tell me a little about the future,’ Kennedy laughed.

‘Do not go to Dallas…you will be assassinated…Lyndon will become President…the War in Vietnam will continue for years…thousands will die,’ Neva J said.

‘Our trip to Texas changed everything,’ Jane said. ‘Trump did not become President,’ Jane continued. ‘We did not lose confidence in our Presidents or government truth became common and service essential to politics,’ Jane danced on one foot and then the other. ‘JFK is our longest living President at 109 and he still sails,’ Jane laughed.

Last week the temperature was 100, today it is 68. Fall is here. A gloomy cloud covered day, my kind of weather. Jonathon and I are enjoying a cup of coffee. Coffee is good in the fall. Everything is good in the fall. Thoughts of life and our place in it. Hope that lifts us up and carries us forward. Peace you can feel. The birds are traveling. They stop by Brooks Pond. Tired from the flight but not home yet. The little boy is walking his dog. His class did not get to go out today for recess. He did not like that. The Old Man ordered a Fontanini Nativity piece yesterday and received it today. Quick turn around. I saw a dear lady at church the other day. I considered how sweet she was an angel on earth. Today she went home.

We think about what is before our eyes. If it is crude brusque insipid we feel the world is a bad place. ‘As a man thinks so is he.’ We must lift our eyes to the hills and sky. So much more is right than wrong.

The days are getting shorter…faster. Things seem new for the old. A revelation for the senses and a realization that all has not been learned. Surrounded by beauty and never seeing it. Held by joy and never feeling it. Spoken to by angels and having difficulty hearing.

There he was first grade. It was chilly walking to school. The boy hoped mom would be fine on her own until he returned. They raised each other. The bulletin board was full of pumpkins, ghosts, a witch on a broom with a funny smile. Everyone was all a twitter about their lives and what was coming next. Bonfires and hayrides, roasting marshmallows and candy corn. Scary movies Frankenstein and Dracula. Must purchase a Halloween Costume at Ben Franklin Dime Store. There were a lot of costumes. You could be anything on Halloween. The sky was the limit. The boy bought a JFK mask and costume which was an image of a man wearing a suit and tie on a flimsy cloth that covered your front and tied behind your neck like a hospital gown. The boy understood hospital gowns. He had been in the hospital. People laughed and called him Mr. President as they placed candy in his plastic Jack-O-Lantern.

Choices, which do you choose? It is good to have choices. We have many. Choices lead us to our sense of place. Who we are is a culmination of our choices. The path of acceptance is a good road. The little boy found that to be true many years ago. He was a bit afraid the first day of school he did not know anyone no one knew him. The girl sitting next to him had lovely blonde hair and seemed serene. Teacher asked the girl if she needed to visit the restroom? She nodded and as she left the room he noticed a puddle of liquid under her desk. We often appear to be put together and ready to rumble but inside we are in distress.

‘Friday night we will visit the Magic House,’ Chet said. ‘It sets at the outskirts of town next to the cemetery,’ Chet continued. ‘The look of it is plain but mystery resides within,’ Chet noted with a sly grin. ‘The carvings on the walls the floors and the ceilings are more than can be explained,’ Chet shivered. ‘There is a carved glass bowl on the porch with rosaries in it for each person to take before entering,’ Chet informed. ‘Buddy and Tom visited the House by the Cemetery last Friday and have not been heard from for the past few days,’ Chet said softly. ‘I passed the house one time and it was Victorian the next time it was Ranch Style then A Frame,’ Chet said with saucer eyes. ‘It is a shape shifting house,’ Chet laughed.

‘Bill and I visited the House in the 40s and found it both delightful and a bit spooky,’ Neva J said. ‘We were greeted by a British Butler named Jack he invited us in and we sat on a Victorian sofa under candle light,’ Neva J continued. ‘There was whispering in the room but I could not quite hear what the voices were saying,’ Neva J mused. ‘A tall lovely woman invited us to take a tour with her through out the abode,’ Neva J grinned. ‘Each room appeared small until after we entered when it grew in size with the door to it seeming a mile away although we had just entered,’ Neva J explained. ‘The rooms were color themed we stopped in the red room where we sat on beautiful red velvet chairs and drank hot chocolate,’ Neva J remembered. ‘I noticed as I talked with Bill that he seemed smaller and yet very animated he was sinking into the red velvet with joy,’ Neva J laughed. ‘I quickly got up but Bill was gone so I left or tried to at least,’ Neva J said fearfully. ‘There was no longer a door the woman said to follow her and we began to walk down through the floor on unseen steps,’ Neva J continued. ‘Suddenly I was outside again and Bill was still sunk in the red velvet chair as far as I know,’ Neva J said with a shrug.

‘I wonder if this was a good idea it is Halloween Season but I don’t want to get lost in velvet,’ Jane said. ‘The lights are on cookies on the table hot cider to drink 1940’s music playing on the Victrola,’ Jane noticed. ‘Look there is someone coming he looks like Bill,’ Jane said. ‘I wonder if he has been here since he was lost in the red velvet in the 40s,’ Jane mused. ‘He seems bright eyed and bushy tailed,’ Jane observed.

‘Neva J your hair has turned white over night,’ Bill said. ‘Each time I looked for you for the door the Whispers told me not yet it is not time,’ Bill continued. ‘The Whispers admonished me to be patient and have another Dirty Martini wait as time has no meaning,’ Bill said. ‘Has it been a few days or perhaps a week,’ Bill asked? It seems I just got here and liked it so well I could not or did not leave,’ Bill noted. ‘The faces carved in the walls the floor the ceiling are the Whisperer’s, Bill winked with the knowledge. ‘The Whisperers like me we talk for hours about the world and the problems in it,’ Bill reflected. ‘They do not want me to tell you guys the secret but I must this is our new home take a seat in the red velvet chairs and relax we have nothing but time,’ Bill said with a macabre laugh.

Saturday evening was a fun time. Jerry Seinfeld was performing at the Fox Theatre MJ and I were there. The Fabulous Fox is indeed fabulous! The Fox is a restored 1920s Movie Palace. It is a lovely building. We had good seats with plenty of leg room said the Old Man who has cramped his legs into small spaces all of his life. We saw our friends Lee and Jim at Stage Left and enjoyed a nice visit. Seinfeld brought me out of feeling punk to glorious laughter. Jerry has that ability. It was the third time we had seen him perform and he does not disappoint. He is a master of observational humor. I laughed so hard I was not aware of the point I felt better. Seinfeld’s observances on mundane daily events is priceless. He causes the listener to see the world with a new set of eyes.

St. Charles is a destination for the Brooks and has been for many years. The quaint town was once the Capitol of Missouri. MJ and I noticed that either the brick sidewalks are becoming more uneven or we are getting older. Last year about this time I purchased a Fontanini Nativity Set beginning with the Holy Family and Three Wisemen. I was so pleased to find three more Wisemen to add to my special Nativity set. In view of the fact that I had three Wisemen already the next three will accompany our Holy Family Threesome that we got in Florence several years ago.

St. Louis is our city. We are 100 miles for it while 300 miles separate us from Chicago. Folks in St. Louis are no different than people in Carbondale. Friendly helpful with a few sourpusses.

Fall air has returned to us. The Old Man’s spirits have risen. The plans and schemes of my favorite time of year are here. Soon Turner Classic Movies will play the old Universal Theatre’s Monster movies. House will be festooned with Halloween lights which is a custom not observed in my early life. I think Halloween Lights are an attempt to bring Christmas on early. I heard a woman answer to the question ‘How are you,’ with her response ‘Living Life.’ How perfect I thought. We are about the business of living life. It comes with surprises around every corner including Six Wisemen.