Chilly evening

Yesterday was the first real chill. It's nice to bake pumpkin bread, enjoy a warm cup of tea, and curl up in a blanket. But I forgot one thing that I don't like about the colder weather... my fingers freeze as I'm trying to type. That's not good, especially when trying to write a major paper. Yesterday I had to wear my leather gloves for awhile at the computer. Needless to say, it didn't work so well.

This evening I went for a long walk. I was listening to the part in Ulysses where Stephen's mother comes back from the dead and asks him to pray. He wouldn't pray with her on her deathbed, so her ghost haunts him. Ghosts are psychological creatures.

While walking, the sun went down. I continued in circles through the gated community and then around my block over and over. Laughing children played in an open area. Giant rose bushes and other plants hid them, and I could just see their faces above and through the leaves. Their parents grouped together talking. The orange street lamps glowed on the roses and children. Autumn is a lonely time. I walk by all the houses with kids playing out front or neighbors walking dogs. They have pumpkins on their steps and everything inside seems cozy from the well-lit rooms. The smoke in the air curls out of fireplaces and taunts "hearth," "home," "warm." These people have their families. They don't wander around in the dark like a ghost sensing the lights and lives of others.