Gatherings serve many purposes. Discussed one last week. There were two this weekend. One tested me a bit since the bat in the rear of my car failed to see the light of day in slightly more than a year. The other represented a test of connection and how things endure despite distance in time and place.

Yesterday at 4:02PM marked the arrival of the autumnal equinox. In my never ending quest for truth, I googled it and found some interesting facts. (Remember, everything on the internet is true:)     Myth: You can stand a raw egg straight up on the day of the equinox. Truth: If you have enough focus and patience, you can do this anytime of year.   Myth: There are equal hours of both day and night (12 hours).

I once blogged about "Summertime Summertime Sum Sum Summertime" (a great song by The Jamies).  Summertime is to be celebrated, enjoyed and endless.  Well, today is the first day of Fall or Autumn.  Both the words Fall and Autumn are not good and that's just how I feel.  How did September and the not so endless days of Summer slip by so very quickly?  I repeat, so very quickly.  A veritable flash!Gershwin had it right about "Summertime and the living is easy" and now it will be hard.

Last weekend, we were at a family wedding in Schroon Lake, New York in the Adirondack foothills. Many of the festivities were in the town of Lake George. Being there for a few days caused me to rethink my life-long voiced preference for beach over mountains. I love the beach. However, I have come to accept that looking out at a lake with mountains in the background beats looking out at the ocean fading into the horizon. And then there are the trees and the leaves. An ever-changing pallet. And when I close my eyes, the image is of the mountains.

I don't where these originated, I heard them from Deepak Chopra.   We could change the world with these questions. Especially Facebook.   1. Is it true? 2. Is it kind?

  I have little occasion to find myself inside a bank anymore.     As a child growing up, I have distinct recollection of my first Citibank passbook. I couldn’t wait to physically go to the bank, make a deposit, and see how the amount would change.  

As I watched the coverage of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, I noticed that I was extremely uncomfortable watching the news reporters give live feeds from outside during the storms. I watched, with a bit of disbelief, a news reporter from CNN reporting from the middle of the flooded streets of Miami advising everyone that there was a mandatory curfew in effect as the streets of Miami were an extremely dangerous place to be. The juxtaposition between where she was standing and what she was saying was not lost on me.

This morning into afternoon members of the Bearak, Stone and Stark clans gather to celebrate a special milestone: Mom’s 80th.  If not for my involvement a primary election involving my good friend and client, the party (and this blog) would have occurred the weekend before.