It’s Halloween, or as it is also known, Samhain. The sun is shining and it is quite cool this morning. I woke up to -10 and then went for a decent hike in the countryside once the temperature soared to -6 Celsius while it was still morning. I want to be home for the early afternoon appearance of little people in search of Halloween treats. Of course, when they come I will be wearing clothing as I do want to continue living in our town and not taking up valuable space in some jail cell which is needed for real criminals.
Typically, the day signals the imminent arrival of NaNoWriMo. However, unlike past years, I won’t be attempting the challenge. I have other priorities for the month of November including the release of my latest naturist-fiction novel, Aliens Among Us, a book that is now on pre-order at Amazon [click here to add your name to the list]. The print version of the book will follow shortly after November 15th. The cover for the novel was designed and executed by Fabien Barabé, an artist from Nova Scotia, Canada.
I have just started another novel that will be space oriented, something that is completely different from any of my past novels. This story will take quite some time to develop as I am hoping to get input from a certain grandson in terms of story line and expected conflicts. I will get to spend some time with him in late November and again in mid December. Once those two meetings are done, I will spend more time on the story.
Until then, I am eighty percent through the rewrite of a non-fiction book that tells a number of micro-stories of marriage to the same woman for fifty years. I am hoping to have the story edited before Christmas so that our children and grandchildren can have their copies as Christmas presents. So, as you can see, there is no time for a focused NaNoWriMo adventure.
Now, with all that said, my words return to Halloween and Samhain. The intent going back centuries, if not longer, is about marking a transition. Days are getting shorter here on the prairies north of the 49th parallel, and nights are getting longer. Frost is becoming more and more of the norm, a sign that the big deep freeze of winter is on the horizon. There will be less and less opportunity for me to be out in nature while nude though not a decrease in the amount of time I spend clothing free. It is a time for transitioning from a life lived in the outer world, to a more contemplative time.