Halloween

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
~Scottish Saying

There is something magical about this time of year.  It is the changing of the colors from the greens, and pinks and purples of summer to the reds and golds and oranges and rusts of autumn.  It is the carpet of leaves that muffles the steps down the streets and sidewalks where mere weeks earlier, the walk ways were clear, marching forth under a canopy of green.  It is the breeze that sends leaves twirling and dancing through the neighborhoods and the soft sun that sneaks peaks from behind the clouds.  Where summer is bright and vivid, awash with colors and vitality; fall is brilliant in bejeweled splendor.

One of fall’s highlights in Halloween with its creativity and its mystery and its magic.

Admittedly, I am not, nor have I ever been, a Halloween person.  Granted, it was fun to dress up and trick or treat, but I didn’t miss the practice when it ended after I left 6^th grade.  

I found a love for this bewitch date only after I had my daughter; my Diva who delights in the creativity and the darkness of our neighborhood.  Since her very first Halloween (for which she dressed as a lion and was… so cute!) she has found delight in Halloween.  It isn’t the candy (though she likes her chocolate) as much as it is the work and effort and delight that others take in creating Halloween throughout the neighborhoods.  

Years ago one of the neighborhood houses went all out with fog machines and witches and everything you could imagine.  The Diva loved it.  Every season she remembers it fondly as we walk by.  The creativity and the imagination delight her – and at Halloween, people truly go all out at times.  

For the past few weeks, we have noted the changes in the neighborhood.  She brought home her pumpkins and her haunted house for our decorations, but it is what people do to the outside that amazes her.  Our neighborhood has come to life with some interesting visitors.  

A spider, a very large hairy spider, has built its Webb in a tree that overhangs one of the sidewalks.  Every morning we walk beneath him wishing him well and hoping that he will not suddenly drop electing to have one of us for a snack.  

Skeletons have also taken up residency throughout the area.  Their hands raised in friendly salutation as we wander our way to school.  

And pumpkins… there are loads of pumpkins!

Who knows what will appear on all Hallow’s Eve!

This year we are foregoing trick-or-treating and will actually do a Ghost Walk in one of the country’s most haunted areas – we are forgoing one kind of energy for another… and it promises to be… mysterious in its own way!

 

Happy Halloween!!