Ghosts in the Graveyard

My daily walk with the dog down a country road becomes something more than ordinary every October as the tranquil scenes along the road take on a whole different character. The witching hour for ghosties and ghoulies is fast approaching as the moon swells a little more each night in the October sky and still shows itself in the early morning hours as a reminder of what is to come--Halloween.

Hello there!

Halloween, or All Hallows Eve--which sounds way more ominous, is a day when my seemingly normal and friendly neighbors gleefully reveal their spooky side and serendipity reigns supreme.  Each walk, leading up to the big event, reveals more surprises as I walk the dog on what appears to be peaceful, still mornings.

Notice the watchdog?

New, other-worldly forms and shapes, ranging from tame to almost sinister, appear in more and more front yards as Halloween draws near.  We walk a little more slowly and I find myself looking over my shoulder more than usual.  Even Tucker (the dog) stays close and chooses not to go near those skeletons waving at us as it feels like somebody is watching us through endless sunken eyes, I know it's all in good fun but it's easy to let my imagination run wild.

I always feel like somebody's watching me.

Where have all of the flowers gone?

My morning walk with the dog brings imaginings of whispy, swirling mists coming out to play from dawn till dusk in makeshift graveyards that emerge on the manicured lawns of otherwise typically neighborly homes. Headstones are accompanied by bony skulls and spindly hands ready to join in a game of, Ghosts in the Graveyard, aptly named in their honor.  It's a children's game that combines elements of hide and seek, tag and just good natured and old-fashioned scaring of each other on a dark evening all combined into one.   Even though this game is played any time of the year--it was one of my son's all-time favorites, while growing up, to play with friends and especially all of his cousins--it always transforms itself into full-blown technicolor at this time of the year.

So glad that this bicycle is not built for two!

The macabre adornments of the season make these "Ghosts in the Graveyard" come to life.  I wonder who's playing among the R.I.P. markers (and they are in every front yard along the road) when the kids are at school and what is dodging in and out of the trees when everyone is asleep?  Even those devil deer hide and watch the shadows from a safe distance while the owls hoot and howl to unheard and mysterious laughter.

Not exactly your typical Saturday Night at our friend's (Susan and Richard) house but it
looks as though they seem to be having a good time anyway.

The ghosties and the ghoulies are having fun as they patiently wait on those nice neighborly lawns to join the trick-or-treaters on All Hallows Eve.  Come November, they are off to the attics and basements, back into their boxes to wait until next October when they come out to play their own unique version of "Ghosts in the Graveyard" all over again and my walk with the dog will also slow down and become a little more cautious as the neighbors let their imaginations float and fly away with themselves as their ghosts in the their graveyards appear once more.