A firestorm of Crimson King Maple leaves is tap-tapping on my windows up here in the Creatorium (no “m” in that, please) as I gaze out over the lake.  I think it’s Morse code for the last laugh.  The laugh would be because I just did my spring yardwork as autumn began shaking the leaves off the trees.  Ah, well, it’s being out of step with the cycles, the seasons and the schedules of life that keeps my path interesting.  I could care less about averages and norms.  None of them seem to fit me, and I’ve always defied demographics and actuarial tables.  One of the buzz phrases I answer with about myself in interviews is, “when you don’t belong anywhere, in a sense you belong everywhere.”

Ignoring norms is a solitary road to take, but it allows you all the freedom there is to see, to grow, to learn.  And you don’t have to pledge allegiance to anything you don’t want to -- no narrow agendas, no stifling routines, no soul-shrinking hypocrisies.  To be sure, I can be narrow, stifling, and hypocritical, but I don’t have to live in that neighborhood and I try not to.  My sanctuaries, at least, are pure and honest.  Romantic idealism has always been my refuge, albeit an isolated one.

That’s kind of what I’ve written about this month in a column over on StorytellersUnplugged.com   [   http://storytellersunplugged.com/thomassullivan/2008/10/15/thomas-sullivan-inspiration-is-a-duet/ ].  A number of fans and friends have e-mailed to tell me that some of the links in the last couple of newsletters haven’t worked, and I thank you for the heads up.  Not sure why they haven’t worked, but it seems to have something to do with the protocols between different e-mail formats and browsers.  I’m trying to embed them a little differently this month, so we’ll see.  If you want to read any past newsletter (w/photos) or column just go to my webpage www.thomassullivanauthor.com and choose News & Articles.  They are all there thanks to Webmaster Cap’n Ed Picard.

Once again reaction to a column that includes Glenn Frey (http://www.storytellersunplugged.com/thomas-sullivan-the-mystique-the-mistake-at-crosslake-or-glenn-frey-sully-on-creativity-part-2) has been overwhelming.  We’ve since gotten together when the Eagles came to town September 30^th for an incredible concert at the Target Center, and an afternoon visit in Glenn’s hotel suite gave us a chance to solve the economy, politics, parenting, and all things save why sheep don’t shrink when it rains.  Talk about sanctuaries.  I like the elbow room of 6000 acres of raw nature every day, but the orderly hush of a suite high above the city with a baby grand piano and a dining table that could seat a PTA is a close second.

And here we are in Candy Month.  I’m thinking of buying some fresh stuff for Halloween give-outs, since I notice fewer and fewer trick-or-treaters coming by each year to take advantage of that terrific killing I made in the lemon drop market back in 2001.  The word is that if you start sucking a lemon drop from Sullivan Acres on October 31, it will last through Christmas.  Stones melt faster.

Here’s hoping you win the trifecta of holidays as we go through the big triple over the next three months.  Most people seem to set their sights on Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas like three ports in winter’s storms.  Every day seems like a holiday to me, but I like to see the build of people’s expectations.  That was “build,” not bill.  The bill comes later.

The photos below include one of The Golden Meadow mentioned in this month’s column over on storytellersunplugged.com along with two pictures of fall color at Elm Creek.  The two shots -- and I do mean shots -- about polo and Harvey the six-foot rabbit are by the nefarious Dr. Foto (Mark Manrique), who has dedicated his life to destroying any illusions of respectability I had.  They refer to last month’s column and newsletter, I believe, and they crack me up -- but not because the truth hurts.  The Tin-Man photo comes with a particularly penetrating note from the evil doctor which I shall only characterize as involving Rustoleum and body parts.

Wishing you a month of insights and magic.

Thomas “Sully” Sullivan
http://www.thomassullivanauthor.com/