October Open Spaces

 

Open Spaces

By John W. Vander Velden

Vol, 21.10

October 25, 2021

I have been reminded, repeatedly, that Halloween is this weekend. Not that I am big into ghosts and goblins or witches and such, though I have written a spooky stories in the past. But the approach of Halloween is a certain sign that the month of October is coming to its conclusion.

Where does the time go?

I suppose that’s a question we all ask ourselves. Especially those of us that have some frosting blended within the few strands of upon our heads. Time rushes onward and carries us along like it or not.

But October’s ending means we are well into autumn...a season of transitions.

 So on this rainy day, we’d gotten most of three inches overnight, I consider how the summer’s warmth had slid into late September and most of October. Oh it wasn’t oppressive by any means, just warmer than usual. I told Jackie just yesterday that we normally get the first killing frost around the middle of October.

That’s the farmer in me.

But even as November approaches we haven’t had even a light frost this year. Yet the weather is a changin’. The leaves are falling and there is no doubt the days are shorter. I am reminded that each year is different. It helps to keep us on our toes. So enjoy the good weather days, and bundle up for the others.

Now for a bit of writing news.

I have finished the first pass of the editorial revise of my next book. A major task completed. I am, presently reading With the Sun’s Rising, the third book of the Misty Creek Saga, out loud to Jackie. It’s her first exposure to this volume and an opportunity for me to catch errors I have missed. Things like repeated words, echoes my editor calls them, or opening too many paragraphs with identical words. I keep my eyes open for “crutch” phrases. Word groups I use far too often. Fact is each time I read through a manuscript I stumble onto mistakes, but reading the text out loud, verbalizing the scenes, helps to catch many of them.

I also have three Author Events scheduled in the next six weeks. The first is less than two weeks away on Saturday November 6^th from 2:00PM until 4:00PM, hosted by my friends at La D’zert Café, 401 N. Michigan Street, Plymouth, IN. I am very excited to once again have the opportunity to meet with readers face to face.

The next events will be in the Bell Memorial Public Library, downtown Mentone, Indiana on Tuesday evening, November 16^th, 4:30PM – 6:30PM. I love going to libraries, don’t you? The third will be in Fables Books downtown Goshen, Indiana, on Friday evening December 3^rd 6:00PM until 8:00PM.

If you’re in the area of any of these events, please stop by.

Well I need to wrap things up, so let me close with something Eloise Jenkins shares within the pages of With the Sun’s Rising, when she tells Elizabeth that, Change is not the enemy.

I for one HATE change, and maybe you do as well. But the Handcock’s Bluff shopkeeper’s words carry some truth. Living means facing changes. Some are appreciated. Many are not. But we can, with God’s help, continue our life’s journey, accepting the changes that come. And in the end find that change never intended to undo us.

So as the weather changes, as this month ends and another begins, as we look toward the end of this year, we recognize that each day...each and every day...brings with it changes. Embrace the new days. Experience the new opportunities, knowing that you are never alone, for God is with you, today, tomorrow, and always.

Blessings,

John