This month’s photo does not have a caption because when I saw this and photographed it this month, several things came to mind. 

You know that saying: “When a door closes, another one opens.”  Running my own business, that second door sometimes doesn’t open as fast as I would like it to. 

A long hallway can represent transitioning through different parts of your life.  Which brings me to thoughts of my Mother, who is turning 90 years old this month, and all the things she has witnessed - good, bad, and indifferent. 

But what strikes me most in this image is that here, when you think about heading into another opportunity in your life, there’s a garbage can in the corner just before you go through the doors.  This way, you can throw out all the things that will not help you, that will not motivate you, that will suck the life out of you.  All those people and things you do that do not bring positive energy to your life on a daily basis, you can throw it out in that garbage can on the right, and just keep on going with your pursuit of happiness.  ...which would be a very long title for any photograph. 

This is the month I like usually like to thank all of my clients, and my friends, and my wonderful staff that keeps me up and running.  So thank you to all those who hire me, who help me, who support me.  I’m not going to go name-to-name because I always leave somebody out, but I hope you all know who you are. 

We’re getting into the season where it helps to have thick skin.  What I mean by thick skin is getting ready for all of your family and friends to come together.  There are some you really want to see, and you always leave saying, “Boy, why do we always wait until the end of the year to see them?  We should see them more!”  And on the flip side, there are some you meet up with and always say, “Man, I’m only glad I only see this person one time a year.” 

People are now getting ready for Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  On Black Friday my son and I have a little tradition that helps us keep our perspective on things.  We go out to the malls, have a piece of pizza at midnight, and watch everybody running around for the specials.  This is the official start of the holiday season, even though they’ve been selling holiday gear in the stores since just after the 4th of July.

In closing, I have to say something about Hurricane Sandy.  I hope we all survived it, and for those who know people who did not survive it, I send my condolences to you.  Weather is amazing, isn’t it?  During the storm, I was thinking about primitive man and how they dealt with it.  When our lights go out and we don’t have our computers and our microwaves, we sit around and think about when we’ll get power back.  (Am I the only one who, when the power’s out, I still turn the light switches on and off when I walk in and out of a room?)  Sitting on the shore, watching a storm roll in, primitive man got up, found shelter, and just tried to stay alive until it was over. 

So everybody, let’s gear up!  Get the trees, the menorahs, whatever else you get out to make your house festive for this time of year.  Talk to you next month!

- Kevin S. Nash

Photo details: Temple University’s Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA.