Cryptic Tales

Excuse me if I have/some place in my mind/where I go time to time.
― Tom Petty

Just before midnight two weeks ago Friday (24 hours before) I lucked into a ticket to see Tom Petty on the final night of his North American Hypnotic Eye Tour. Awesome evening of rock n’ roll! Maybe because I discovered Tom Petty has an October birthday too, I began to inventory birthdays (mine and those of pivotal people in my life) as well as unexpected moments, deaths of loved ones, reunions, anniversaries, and magic in this 10^th month of the year.

October Transformations

An insatiable escape artist, in 2011 on the return part of my trip, I travelled back in time 10 hours (across multiple time zones) on my birthday. I departed Nairobi just before midnight en route to a morning latte in Amsterdam before returning to Los Angeles to teach a few hours after landing. I’m not sure the gist of what I delivered in class that night and I’m pretty sure no one else knew either! Six hours after claiming my luggage from the carousel I arrived back on my doorstep, thus extending my birthday celebration by an entire day without losing any calendar time. 9,724 miles in 24 hours and 10 minutes. On the outbound part of that journey to Kenya with unexpected/ planned reunion stopover, I never imagined how my life would expand in the next 2 years. How that chance encounter would fill in the gaps of missing decades.

You and I will meet again, When we’re least expecting it, One day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won’t say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again.
– Tom Petty                                

A magical reappearance in October 2011 followed by a sudden disappearance in October 2013. A modern Gothic romance I am still trying to untangle – as astounding as any Houdini trick. A final parting yes, but forgotten – never.

What does this have to do with creativity, writing or art you ask? A fair question. Like any decent escape artist, this jet-lagged guide would say you have to unravel it on your own. It’s an illusion – the good kind.

And here’s an illusion for you. Growing up in Canada, I loved the saturated palette of October that turned the leaves red, red–orange, yellow, and ochre. Brilliant rays of sunlight dazzled the cool air. I munched crisp juicy apples – tart to taste. But in a blink, threatening clouds obscured the magic of the performance. The darkening skies – a preview of coming attractions – for the long, bitter winter freeze. To my hardy Canadian friends this transformation signals the long awaited snow they so cherish. To me those icicle covered tree branch posters that beckon you to frolic in the white powder, unaccompanied by the reality of sub zero temperatures with a wicked wind chill factor, indeed count as illusion – of the bad kind.

And finally, as we approach All Hallows’ Eve on the 31^st a festivity originally intended to conjure up the souls of the dead, we imagine haunted sites and trick or treating under the guise of skeletons, ghosts, vampires, witches, devils, and characters from the tales of Edgar Allen Poe. Grand illusions! Artifacts and symbols surrounding Halloween are said to frighten evil spirits. Folklore suggests the Jack O’ Lantern represents a soul denied entry to heaven or hell. But beware: outside of the sanctioned costuming of this spirited October ritual lies some rampant masquerading – illusion and not the good kind.

As for lively costumes, I am not wearing Tom Petty’s famous hat in the photo above. He lost it in a fire. It actually belongs to the extraordinary man in the first tale. But if I can figure out how to make things reappear i.e. rise out of the ashes – I will. A trick I wish I knew that would help me solve a lot of mysteries. Sadly, the ultimate illusionist magician Harry Houdini died on October 31, 1926 leaving me to discover how it’s done on my own.

So what’s this got to do with rock n’ roll or the art of writing? Plenty, I think – like uncanny happenings, spontaneity and chance, freedom of self-expression, paying homage to legends, unbridled imagination, and the magic of transformation.

Embrace illusion – the good kind. Eyes open!

And I’m free, free fallin’.
– Tom Petty