A Haunted Halloween

They say, that in the midnight hour,

on the Eve of Halloween

The disembodied have the power

To wander seen, unseen

Up the wizened oaks

And across the fairy stream

They glide through still

And solemn places

With pale, cold, mournful faces

To dream...

Wishing you a happy, h a u n t e d Halloween!

Text modified from Midnight and Moonshine by William Motherwell.

Dragonfly Dreams

I live in the middle of suburbia.

A land of sidewalks, paved driveways and every now and then

a teensy, tiny greenspace.

We looked long and hard to find our house

and chose it because of its12,000 square foot lot

 in a well-treed neighbourhood.

But, was I going to find dragonflies here?

Of course not...

That is, until I planted my garden

and they began to visit

regularly.

Even then, a dragonfly pond?

Can you even build one just for dragonflies?

It turns out, you can :)

It took us a few years of experimenting and educating ourselves

before we recognized the Pond Dragons (dragonfly larvae)

that scuttled along the muddy bottom of the water.

This is the first year I saw them emerge...

from my pond...

my Dragonfly Pond.

I am over the moon and beyond happy.

In the first photo:

I rescued a dragonfly from the rising pond water.

Its wings had not yet hardened enough

for it to fly away.

In the second photo:

Something twinkling in my apple tree caught my eye.

It turned out to be a dragonfly drying its wings

in the sunlight.

In the final photo:

- Best of all -

I witnessed several dragonflies

laying their eggs in the moss near the water

which means...

more dragonflies will be born in

Dragonfly Pond!

Dragonfly dreams do come true :)

Onward To October

October began today with a quick change of weather

plunging us instantly into Autumn.

At the end of last month,

we were equally awed and spooked

by a Blood Moon caused by the lunar eclipse

on September 27th.

Since then, we have been treated,

nightly,

to glowing red skies and

sunsets,

with such a profound glow

that their colours seep into my windows

drawing my eyes, like a magnet,

to the sky.

Even the flowers,

long since having lost their petals

but eager to join in the celebrations 

have taken to catching the last light of day

in their seedy legs

causing all kinds of eerie patterns

for me to capture.

For now, I'm enjoying every red moment :)

And before we know it,

Halloween will be here!