The Summer is coming to an end. Kids are back in School next week. Pears and apples are maturing on the trees. The Celsius dropped from it’s peaks. The Sun sets earlier, and earlier, and earlier, and so do we. I look back and think of beautiful evenings at the beach, abundance of B.C grown fruits and veggies, and warm morning walks, getting away from our south facing home heat. I look forward and I see the charm of Autumn. A time to retreat, drink tea, read, and snuggle. Our first Autumn with Georgia. I am excited to watch her watching the season change. During our strolls, she glances by concrete walls and stares for prolonged periods at the tree-tops. I wonder how she will perceive them slowly turning, from green to yellow, from yellow to orange, from orange to red, from red to brown, from brown to the ground…

Simple fact of life: everything is constantly turning, becoming, aging, changing, transforming into something else – but essentially all small matters remain a part of the greater oneness on earth. Same but different. Re-arranged. We are currently re-arranging life. Once again packing into storage the little bits and pieces of our life. Soon we travel across the Coastal Mountains for a month-long family farm stay until our much further and long overdue journey to Brasil. One final remark before I get ahead of myself (in time and space) this post is about the beauty and balance between city and nature, shelter and outdoors. For a glimpse of Summer, here’s Akira, Madoka and Adam’s son, moments before he picked his first cherry tomato off the vine. The most delightful creation. A fierce adventurer, food lover, and bare-foot walker.

This post brings us to another one of my thrift finds: The Boy from the Sun, written and illustrated by Duncan Weller. On their way to school on an idle black-and-white morning, three kids sit and stare at the grey nothing around them. An industry and fumes lies in the background. Suddenly a boy with a bright yellow head lands from the sky. The Sun boy is decidedly going to cheer them up and as quick as a magic trick, he shows them a magnificent rainbow bird. The boys look surprised and eager to see more. The paths around turn green, butterflies, children, musicians, and animals all appear as the kids follow the Sun boy across the concrete path. Through ancient forests and fields they run until the sidewalk stays behind. The Sun boy brings color and beauty to life. The abundance of space and air welcome imagination and play. His advice is wise “And when you take the time to fill the worlds within you will join the world without”, for one can find happiness inside and bring color to life in the greyest of days. And so the children learn this trick. The industry remains in the horizon but the children take the path that leads to the trees dancing in the Autumn wind.

The Boy from the Sun, and Flowing with the Seasons

Possum Magic and the Beauty of a Simple Life