pumpkin patches

Taken at the Giffith Observatory in November 2007. I saw this little boy still running around in his Halloween costume and couldn't resist taking a shot. I hope his mom didn't think I was crazy.

I bought a copy of Shel Silverstein's _Where the Sidewalk Ends_ some time ago and afterwards realized something: I have inaccurately rosy memories of the past. Of course, I'd been wondering that for some time. Was high school really that great? Did we really mesh so well? Did you really make me happy? And the answer is: I'll never know; I can't go back in time. But here were concrete pages that were supposed to remind me of my childhood. And yet flipping through, the only memory I found was that I read them once, in Mrs. Lukes' 6th grade class. It was a loan from Lina. The pictures are grotesque and the poems are slightly disturbing. Missing limbs, death, children being eaten. I couldn't possibly have enjoyed this.

It just made me think of how often I, we wish things could back to the way they were. We think everything was easier years ago contrasted with the hard days we face now. But I remember the bullies, the pressures to fit in, crying at night. By the same token, I remember all the wonderful things that have happened to me since. Meaningful conversations, nights out on the town, wonderful people ... So perhaps I will just leave the book on the shelf as a reminder that good things are still to come. In truth, the sidewalk never ends, at least not for this magic bean buyer.