Blue Moon, Blasting Skies, Alchemy of Being

I'm chilling outside, under the glow of the second full moon of this month: a blue moon. It's one of the last few evenings of the year that it will be nice enough to sit out here and close a day with sipping a glass of wine under the stars. I always find the tastiest watermelons around the end of August, and tonight I'm snacking on some that has been enhanced with a sprinkling of Tajin, a Mexican spice blend I found, concocted specifically to be added to slices of fruit. It gives it a wonderful sharp, zippy bite of citrus and chili, balanced by a slightly salty tang that contrasts nicely with the juicy sweetness. It was the perfect bedtime snack to have after I came back from the fireworks festival down by the river. A fireworks festival is the perfect event to have to symbolize the fading away of a Canadian summer: lively, animate, a burst of hot fiery glorious beauty within the year that feels like it comes and goes way too quickly and fleetingly. The flash of colours lead to the expectation of the changing leaves as autumn approaches.

That excursion, my book, plus sitting out here, were my first real breaks of the day. Before and after work, most of it was spent charging around and frantically writing up some correspondence to get some things prepared before deadlines today.

As I said, I read a bit after all that stuff was over with. If I was ever so diligent enough to create and upkeep a blog or numeric list article about a manly man's guide to literature*, the novel The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, would definitely be on it. It has been perhaps effecting me more deeply than I thought it would, now that I sit back and meditate on all the actions I took today to work some things out for the better. It seems like a recent entry into the book market, but in actuality, the work is twenty some odd years old. It's one of those universal and timeless stories, with lots of interplay using archetypes. It's sort of an adventure story; not one with a high level of action or drama in the content of the story, but if you have a real soul in you, it triggers you to recollect and probe into any part of some aspect of the adventure of your own life, in terms of both successes and regrets, where you found yourself chasing after a dream. Paradoxically, it's loaded with a setting and themes of things exotic and mysterious, yet is not as riddle laden as one may initially think: it gets very direct and revealing about some of life's deeper wisdom and truths. I wonder if this writing style is just a unique facet related to literary Portuguese, from which this story was translated, or more of a direct characteristic of the author.

Be warned, this book might make you want to approach your desires in life with a little more passion, as well as tuning into using your present moment to do something more pleasantly constructive. It's a Zen book.


*- Such a blog would probably be called something like, Books for Guys Who Like All Things Related to Beer, Boobies, Action Movies, Dirty Jokes, and Things with Loud Throbbing Engines, and Are yet Still Worldly and Securely Masculine Enough to Not Be Ashamed to Admit to Themselves and Others That They Have an Intellectual and Emotionally Sensitive Side That Needs to Be Nurtured and Stimulated With Deeply Awe-Inspiring, Philosophically  Engaging, Life-Enriching, Soulful, and Thought Provoking Literature. . . Ok, ok . . . I'll work on shortening that title.