When Halloween Comes to Call

When October skies begin to darken and storms begin to brew: 

when vultures keep watchful eyes trained upon the ground:

vulture photo compliments of morguefile.com

. . . then it must be Halloween.

Nowadays, a lot of people celebrate Halloween
by reveling in the creepy and the macabre.
I went into a Halloween store this week
in search of a friendly ghost to hang in my arbor,
and I was a little surprised at the number of truly grotesque items for sale:
dismembered limbs, bloody monsters, and mangled corpses
were all lined up behind high price tags.

That is one way to celebrate Halloween in the United States, I suppose,

but thankfully, it's not the only one.

For many of us, Halloween is more about decorating . . . 

I couldn't resist these black, orange and white chrysanthemums

when I was shopping yesterday, 

even though I already had fresh flowers in the house:

And my husband brought home these cupcakes laden 

with mounds of orange frosting shaped like pumpkins:

They are tasty, but rich, so I usually scrape off most of the frosting.
I like these cupcakes, but I'm always a little anxious about eating food-dyes.

Especially since we had bright-green frosted cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

and I accidentally dropped a few on the concrete floor in the garage.
(I still haven't learned to make two trips.)

That was seven months ago and the concrete still has green splotches,
despite being scrubbed.

I fear those green spots will always be with us now.

On a more fun note, here's a house whose owners have no fear.

This place in the Shire pulls out all the stops every holiday, 

and Halloween is no exception: 

They always succeed in making their whole house look like a big holiday party.
It's a pop of color and delight in the midst of some very conservative abodes.

I bet they give out great Halloween candy when tiny ghosts and goblins
show up at their door for a "trick or treat."

Of course, young children aren't the only ones who present themselves for a treat.
Some pekingese know a good thing when they see it:

So we are ready here for Halloween, 

assuming that Hurricane Sandy, 

which some weather forecasters are calling the "Frankenstorm,"

doesn't disrupt our plans and blow all of our Halloween decorations away.

On Wednesday, October 31st, look for more about Halloween in the U.S.

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Weather alert!! If "Sandy," the massive tropical storm/hurricane, 

makes landfall here in southeastern Virginia, we may lose our electrical power.

Consequently, the Still Waters blog may be interrupted for a short while.

If that occurs, please check back daily for my return.

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