Skeleton Fun

More people are home all day, so the Halloween decorations began showing up early this season. Halloween used to be a time of homemade costumes and jack-o-lanterns cut from construction paper. Now, Halloween themes have changed from mildly spooky to downright disturbing. Zombies, severed limbs and malevolent dagger-wielding babies are available at the craft and party stores. This gang of skeletons strike me as a pretty happy bunch, mischievous but not threatening, out for a good time. What's in your neighborhood right now? Take a walk and discover the local ghosts and ghouls.

Autres Directions

 Partway up a Swiss mountain, we came to an intersection. The preferred direction was clearly marked. Our friends humored me when I jumped out to photograph the sign. We spent a lovely afternoon up near the top of La Dole, with cows ambling along the road. I still wonder what we would have found if we had turned in the other direction. Now, years later, when we are lost or come across a confusing road sign, my husband and I will say, in unison "Autres Directions!"

Red Door, New York City

Today I am dreaming about my next trip to New York. When that day comes, there are sure to be visits to more than one museum. The entire city is my museum. Let me wander up and down a few of the less glamorous streets and I will happily spend an hour studying brickwork, stone cherubs and fire escapes. Neglected doors are canvases for those with no gallery representation.  They are group efforts, tagged, stenciled, stickered and scraped. Artists work for years to develop a similar multi-layered look. In a city, it happens organically.

 

Globe Amaranth

 The summer perennials are almost bloomed out and the annuals are tired, opening fewer and fewer flowers each day. This is when the globe amaranth really shines in a garden. Let's be honest, those bright globes are like a lady in a loud dress at the party where everyone else wears boring black. A native of Central America, the plants can be cooked and eaten or made into a tea that has medicinal properties. Gardeners will be harvesting some of the blooms to dry, then add to wreaths or bouquets. That bright color will cheer us through the coming winter.