Greetings loyal airmen, as I write this it is a gorgeous Fall day in New Hampshire.  Most of the leaves are off the trees now and cover most of the lawns and roads in our neighborhood.   This past week Halloween came and went and it was a blast.  Several stories I wanted to share with all of you.  One is about our granddaughter, Taryn, who lives in Bethel, Conn.  She asked her mom and dad, Katie & Scott, if she could dress up like a birthday cake.  So Katie began a hunt at local chain stores for such an outfit.  As many of your regular readers will recall, last week in my log entry, I bemoaned that fact that most Halloween costumes these days are store-bought.  Well, Katie soon learned there was no such costume to be purchased and so, being the loving parents they are, she and Scott rolled up their sleeves and set about making Ms.Taryn a birthday cake suit.

Scott has always had an engineering mind and loves to make things.  All you have to do is look at his model railroad layouts to know that.   Whereas Katie is herself very creative and no doubt has baked enough “real” cakes to know what they look like.  Sure enough, in no time flat, they had produced a one of a kind costume.

And voila, Ms.Birthday Cake-girl, Taryn Fortier.  We are told she had so much fun going trick-or-treating in this costume.  Scott even put in a portable battery so the candles lit up!   Later, at her kindergarden Halloween party, Taryn took first place in the Best Costume Contest.   Way to go!  She and her little brother, Logan, are so lucky to have such loving and fun parents.   We're proud of all of them.

And my final Halloween story is also much delightful in its own way.  About a week ago, my artist pal, Craig Shepard, and his wife, Susan, attended a pumpkin festival.  The highlight was viewing hundreds of the orange gourds carved up in every conceivable image you can imagine.  Well, knowing of my love the original KING KONG movie, Craig was stunned when he spotted one particular pumpkin.  Enough so to take out his cell-phone camer and take this shot…

Ladies and gentlemen, I give….PUMPKING KONG!!!!   Sort of gives new meaning to the phrase, “Just when you think you've seen it all.”  Ha.

On other fronts.  In the past year I've been having fun writing my Pulp Fiction review column.  Sadly all the websites the colum appeared have folded in the past couple of months.  Gee, hope I'm not a jinx?  Anyway, this past week I started my own personal site for the reviews and it is now linked to the banner above this log entry. Please, click on it and check out PULP FICTION REVIEWS.  I'm off to a good start with 5 books reviewed.  You have to know, airmen, I do love reading almost as much as writing.

Finally, in two days time I will do something my father didn't, I will become 60 years old.  Amazing!  I still have to pinch myself to believe this.  I don't feel a day over 40, and Valerie tells me I certainly don't act a day over 13!!! Ha. The truth is, my dad passed away at the age of 59 over thirty years ago.   Thus it became a kind of dreaded benchmark for me.  All the while, Valerie, God bless her, kept doing what she does best, loving and nuturing me and convincing me I still have a lot of time left in this world.   Dad, sadly, was never a healthy man, and a bout with malaria in World War II was to have have negative effects on his immune system for years to come and ultimately caused his early demise.   Since then, all of us, as a generation have learned lots more about nutrition, health etc. and our life expectancies have climbed accordingly.  Wonderful news, but the most important is to cherish the wisdom you gain along the way.  I've loved my life, why?  Because of my family, my parents, my three brothers and my sister.  My fantastic children, my awesome grand kids and good friends and my partner in crime, my lover and confidente, Valerie.   Hey, God, thanks and  I'm ready for the next 60!

Ron..over and out.
PS – Maybe Taryn will let me borrow her birthday caske suit?