I think I am naturally a hibernating animal.  Cool weather comes and I just want to burrow in and sleep.   The days are getting noticeably shorter which should mean more sleep--right?

In spite of my inertia, I did manage to set out some Halloween decorations.  When the children were little we loved putting up fake gauzy web and spiders and decorating the front door with banners and the hall doorways with dangling ghosties and little crafty things they made in school.  Last year I was too busy to put up the decorations I guess, because they stayed in the attic and when I brought them out this year, I had to clean real webs off some of them.

We call this guy Jack.  He was made by Joel Pinkerton.

I haven't bought a pumpkin yet--though I will, and maybe some of those colorful gourds.  The boys used to love to each get a teeny little pumpkin of their own.
Our house has a lot of strange little artworks in it that feel Halloweenish, but we have them up all year.  Kind of like "Jack" in the picture above.  He's always happily out with his little chalice.  So are these guys:

These guys are called The Captives

William Skrips makes these last two.  Some of his works are much darker--scary really so I wouldn't want to look at them all the time.  You can check out his work by clicking his name on the sidebar.  I really love sculptures that are made with found objects.  I love art too that has a bit of humor in it as well which I think these do.

And, it's a good time of year for this kind of silly jewelry (though I do tend to wear these "out of season").
Mmm--but everyone here is napping now, and there's the sleepy hum of the clothes dryer.  The light is fading causing the smiling cat lights smiles to glow a little brighter.  I can see the dogwood leaves have turned reddish and a plane makes a scratch sound as it passes over head.  I need to take the dog out for a run, but not right now.  I think now I just need a little rest.

Halloween

Halloween is always a favorite holiday around here.  Back in the day, there would be only one or two trick-or-treaters.  Then came the years I went out with my kids, so we just left a bowl of candy on our porch so anyone coming by could help themselves.

This year I was home to answer the door.  There seemed to be a good turn out, lots of sweet little goblins and princesses and not too many bigger kids without costumes.  In fact, I only had one of those.  This neighborhood is so weird.  There are these older kids who come late.  They get out of a car and go to select houses and get back to their car.  I guess they pick which house to go to by the decorations.  Around here many, many people decorate.  

Julius Caesar ghoul???

My personal favorite.  

My favorite Halloween story is one that happened a few years ago.  A group of kids--old enough to be out trick-or-treating without adults--were hanging out by our mailbox.  One of them flicked his cigarette on the ground before coming up to our door.  !!   I think that's the epitome of a certain age, one foot knocking on the grown-up door, and one foot still in the comforting world of childhood.

October is Orange

 What is it about October that makes us all run out and buy pumpkins? The calendar turns and these guys pop up in people's yards like mushrooms after rain.
Maybe it's that there is somethings satisfyingly AUTUMN about the big round orangey-ness of them!

And little by little, the ghosties start cropping up.

I love it.  People really get enthusiastic about Halloween around here.  

I'll have to get out and collect more pictures this week.