Much to my surprise, I discovered the word “boo” as I was adjusting my angle for a picture of the Mickey pumpkin. It was the last scare on Main Street while closing down Disneyland one night. With my love for all things cheese—perhaps the mouse has rubbed off on me—I couldn’t resist taking a picture to share here in hopes of giving someone a chuckle or two.
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Crystal Arcade Pumpkins
The Crystal Arcade pumpkins are one of my favorite clusters on Main Street. I think it has a lot to do with the way the orange hue of the pumpkins pops against the bluish green of the Crystal Arcade. In the morning, the sun really gives them a nice glow. You could probably spend half a day or more discovering all of the pumpkins on Main Street. I love how expressive they are.
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Halloween Time Begins at Disneyland
I love when Halloween Time begins at Disneyland. Pumpkins line Main Street window displays and rooftops. Artists create pumpkin masterpieces at Big Thunder Ranch. Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy return. The vibrant yellows and oranges found in the flora and decor help Disneyland take on a different atmosphere that is cozy and inviting. Halloween Time at Disneyland also signifies that Christmas is right around the corner and that may just be my favorite time of year at Disneyland.
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Partners After the Storm
I honestly can’t even recall taking this picture. There are a few like that in my library and it bothers me. I don’t like that I experienced something that moved me to take a photograph but the memory of it is beyond my mind’s reach. It is, however, one of the greatest things about photography. No matter what my mind decides to file as important or throw like chaff to wind, I have the images I’ve taken to capture moments, feelings.
I can’t recall what it made me feel then but I know what it makes me feel now. The calming of a storm at the end of what appears to have been a tempestuous day balances beautifully with the warm light on Walt and Mickey. In a single, still image, the story is simple – the warmth of friendship can carry you through a storm.
Philosophical? You better believe it.
What is the point of art, if not to feel, reflect and express in tangible form the chaos bubbling inside us? To get art out of oneself is to silence the turbulent clamor within for a while. It’s not so very different from the storm clouds. Thoughts, ideas, emotions all take shape but so many of them fade before we can identify their form.
Art can be a friend. It will listen to you no matter what you have to say. It will teach you things about yourself you didn’t know. It will challenge you to grow. It will never judge or leave you. It will simply wait on you with a warm embrace to help you through an inner storm.
Can I get an amen?
A Nighttime Excursion Aboard the Disneyland Railroad
One of the best times to catch a ride aboard the Disneyland Railroad is after dark. The steam from the engine is much easier to see against shadows and a dark night sky and it’s simply magical to travel around the park that way.
Getting a picture like this is something I’ve wanted to do for quite a while but the timing never really seemed to work out. We haven’t spent many evenings at the park lately and when we have, we usually find ourselves too tired to wait. Not all of the engines are positioned like this above the tunnel. Not only do you have to wait for a train to arrive at the station, you have to wait for the right one, which is what I finally did for this picture. Then I stood my ground like a rock against the current as people left Disneyland, wondering what in the world I was doing.
So what do you say? Are you ready for a nighttime excursion aboard the Disneyland Railroad?
Spirit of Adventure
The spirit of adventure is to feel the pressure of limited possibility and push back.
If it were easy, it wouldn’t be called adventure. Whether one steps out the door in search of it or stumbles upon it purely by accident, you can hardly know the outcome. Challenge and mystery are at the very heart of adventure and the desire to test perceived limitations at the heart of every adventurer.
Adventure is about finding courage to do what most people would not. There was a time when the “civilized” world would not sail too far for fear of falling off the planet. It sounds funny now, but only because adventurers taught us to laugh at the notion of a flat Earth by challenging conventional wisdom of the day.
Adventure is about taking risks. Even though you don’t know the outcome, there is something out there worth pursuing. Risk and reward have long been regarded as proportionate to each other. Walt Disney certainly didn’t have success at first, but he took opportunities to learn and used every success he earned to build momentum to undertake new risks. Failing only turns into failure when you decide to give up.
Adventure is about blazing new trails. Google can’t tell you how to do everything because everything has yet to be done. Someone has to be the one staring out at uncharted territory, tasked with making the map. Just because something hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean that it can’t be. Remember, there was a time before space travel, airplanes, automobiles and wheels. One does not simply walk into Mordor, but as tiny people with fuzzy feet have taught us, there’s more than one way to the fires of Mount Doom.
Most of all, adventure is about self discovery. You will never truly know yourself until you’ve known obstacles and opposition. How you handle some situations can’t be hypothesized. You have to encounter them to know. Finding out who you are and what you’re made of is one of adventure’s greatest rewards.
