We kept things chill today, almost as a time-dilation device. My father’s in town to see the new baby, but he’s only here briefly, so we kind of lazed around the house. The weather helped. It was cold. High of 42. And Lindsey is on home rest and the baby hasn’t developed the carapace to deal with those temps (carapaces are a genetic trait in my family). So staying at home seemed right. The secret to extending short visits is keeping things simple. Hanging out. Group-watching something inoffensive. Planning meals.
That night, though, my father and me and my two eldest and our dog went for a night stroll. Which is a fine enough Fall adventure. Flashlights were passed around (well, the one flashlight we had. The rest used flashlight apps on phones), and we all walked out into the chill and the dark under the stars and the looming shadows of the trees around us.
My backyard has enough variety to make that interesting. It’s ringed by a forest and features a hill and some gardens. We poked flashlight beams around, looking for wildlife, but they were apparently hunkered down from the cold or out celebrating the Halloweekend at parties. We eventually wandered to the front yard, the defining feature of which is usually a pair of giant trees but at this time of year is a 15-foot-tall glowing purple ghoul.
After about 20 minutes or so, we were going to head back into the house, when my eldest asked if we could maybe walk around the neighborhood first. She was feeling it. The night, the dark, the season, the complete change in reality at this time of year. Everyone else headed back in, and the two of us walked the block, taking in the Halloween decorations. Shining lights on our local abandoned house (that I’ve heard is up for auction soon so might not decay into further abandonment over the years as I'd hoped). We kept the feeling going for a while before returning to warm our bones inside the house.
I finished the night working on a spooky kids book project that I’m way excited about but which is constantly getting shoved down on my writing priorities list. I got a good review of Death and Douglas today and that kind of inspired me to start focusing on it again.
Tomorrow, we’re supposed to get a Nor’easter. That means lots of rain. And wind. And other things perfect for a late October Saturday. Thinkin’ we’ll put on some spooky movies and carve us up some jack-o-lanterns while the weather does its worst around us.
