the pelican

once more with feeling

spooky. oh so spooky.

got my big paper skeleton outside on the front door. he's waving. beckoning. dancing a little maybe.

got my little battery operated blinking glowing orange eyes in the upstairs window. they blink off and on. glowing eyes. no eyes. eyes. no eyes. oh yes. very spooky.

got my magnificent pumpkin, but haven't cut him up yet. might not. might just put him out by the front door whole and unmaimed. not sure though. when i pulled out of the grocery store parking lot he took a bit of a tumble and broke off his perfect long curved stem. drove him around in the backseat with a seatbelt for a couple days and just forgot he was back there. he didn't seem to mind. then someone said psssst. did you know we had a passenger? found the broken stem floating around on the floor of the car. a little superglue, and voila he's back in business and ready to face the day today.

and the long dark night tonight.

getting colder. leaves turning and falling. about fifty perfect down, i'd say. already had the early wet snow that broke off a bunch of branches. lost two small trees this year. branches down in the streets for the city to pick up.

something about the smell of the leaves and the rustling as you walk through them. the snappy cold air. bit of woodsmoke. the glow of candles in the dark.

i love halloween.

ghosts are everywhere. the memory of a hot summer is passing gently through the cool autumn, stopping by to vist the few hardy flowers that celebrate the last of the fading sun. the spirits of the trees are drowsy and dreaming, practicing for the long sleep ahead. the leaves give up their color into the air. there is a smell of apples turning to sweet mush as they grow soft on the ground. a golden mum struggles against its snow-broken stems to reach the last bright yellow streaks of light. the squirrels are asking for nuts at the back door. the raccoons are back. a masked family of eight scurry out of the drain pipe in the creek and run across the yard to eat the neighbors' dry cat food.

everyone and everything knows that the bright gold sun and long shadows of october will be giving way to the short cold gray days of november.

most of the tourists are gone and the ski season has yet to begin.

the cards have won the world series and baseball is gone until spring.

set the clocks back. dark on the drive home now.

this is the dying time. the sleeping time.

now the veil is thin between the worlds. the world of light and the world of darkness. the world of the warm bright sun and the world of a bright moon in the long cold nights. the world of life and the world of death. between waking and sleeping. there is a blurring, a mixing, a great slow gentle shifting.

it is as if the whole world seems gripped in a sense of nostalgia. fond memories of summer fun. everything is passing. everything turns. everything dies. all is in movement. all returns to the earth.

there is a gentle comfort to autumn. a melancholy fading. a passing farewell. a rememberance.

a harvest complete. a slow compost.

and so in the movement this is also the preparation time. the fixing of the screendoor time. the patch the roof time. the storm window time. the chopping and stacking of wood time.

and this is the time a little samhain blessing, my all black Jack O'Lantern kitty came to live with me three years ago. little black kitten full of earmites, he was. just walked in the back door, had some dry food, looked around, took a nap, hasn't left.

makes sense to me that this should be the celtic new year. and diwali around this time now too. seems wise to begin again at the ending of all things. to celebrate the light in the darkness.

and down at the end of the deadend street where i live, i will await the small bands of ghosts and vampires and princesses and tigers and spacemen and pirates and witches and clowns and mummies and firemen and ballerinas and monsters that will make it down to the end of the street for the best treat bags in the neighborhood.

that's right, the best.

just loves to give those kiddies their sugar, you see. yes i do. oh i do.

this year, they will receive a gummy bat or worm, a few miscellaneous chocolate body parts (bloody fingers, eyeballs, cracked lips, severed ears, that sort of thing) mini kisses, a candy watch and a smiley orange pumpkin marshmallow on top.

yeah, got a dancing skeleton. glowing eyes in the darkness. and lots and lots of sugar.

spooky. oh so spooky.

posted by: limine at 12:42 | link | comments (7) |

Comments:

#1  31 October 2006 - 12:45

 

Happy Halloween!

rustymadgal

#2  31 October 2006 - 12:57

 

I love Halloween too. Loved taking my kids out to trick or treat. I can remember many a time freezing my xxxx off, but loving every minute of it. Now, I put the obligatory pumpkins on the porch, but I have to make sure the candy I get is something I like---for I only get 1 or 2 little ones coming by....and I miss that. Oh well, have fun!

JustMe63

#3  31 October 2006 - 13:13

 

Beautiful post - I can see and smell it - and I'm jealous - still hot, no leaves, sighhh. Maybe I have to retire somewhere further north. Thanks for the imagery.

mafidl

#4  31 October 2006 - 16:09

 

We have an icy, icy sidewalk. I'm just hoping one of the kidlets doesn't break a leg.

v

taming

#5  03 November 2006 - 02:54

 

oh what a 'linky' treat, to see myself on your left hand side! i'm honored, and have cut and pasted this post for better offline reading. but i had to stop and say thank you first. before i run away with it...

Anonymous

#6  03 November 2006 - 04:41

 

"seems wise to begin again at the ending of all things"--yes, indeed, sister. Make that everyday, and every moment.

EmmaPele

#7  06 November 2006 - 10:32

 

This post appeals to all the senses.

Jackal

Comments: