"THEM BONES"

"Every once in a while you've got to open up the closet and let them skeletons breathe. Dust them off..." -Tyler Perry

Mr. ElridgeThomas lived across the lane. In a gingerbread house made of sugar and cookies. At least , that's what I had been told when I was five. It looked more like stucco and quartz.

 I would stare at his house and wonder if anyone had tried to eat it. I know I thought about it often. Mr. Eldrige Thomas was a drama teacher at the local high school. In stories there was always a witch with a gingerbread house.....

The two weeks coming up to Halloween meant Mr. Thomas would bring out a white picket fence and stake it into the ground all around his house.  He  stapled skeletons to the fence. Not the paper kind. The bony fake ones. Ones that rattled.  He had oodles of them. He hung them up everywhere. On the doorway he hung white cobwebs and big black spiders with vampire fangs.

I liked staring at the spiders..Every time Mr. Eldrige Thomas saw me watching him  he would go "Boo", and I'd run back to my house. 

Mr. Thomas laughed and laughed. Eventually I popped back out, to watch him  complete his haunted house. The spiders twirled in the wind. 

My mother said that Mr.  Thomas collected skeletons  from his class. I wondered how they got the skeletons. Grave robbers, said my dad. 

At night, in my room, with the wind whipping around outside, I could hear those skeletons rattling and battling around.  I figured they were coming to get me, and hide in MY closet.

I figured I should do something about it.

On Halloween afternoon I dressed up in one of my favourite costumes. A cape over large blue shorts and a t shirt with the letter "S" sewn on it. I was Supergirl. (It was a stretch, yes, I admit it. )

I also had a cheap plastic sword with the end cut off. My fav thing in the entire world.  I was ready to do battle with "them bones" ( like my Father called them), across the lane. So I carefully snuck out the back door, while my parents were doing laundry, and made my way  across the lane.....Of course, I wasn't that brave. It was still daylight.....not quite trick or treat time. And I didn't want to be caught with the vampire spiders after dark.

"Them bones" rattled  fiercely against the fence. My teeth  chattered. The wind  bitter. The cobwebs shivered above me. I was here to save the world, though.

On guard, Bones!  I flailed at the skeletons as they  bounced against the fence. The sky darkened and lightning popped across the clouds.

I fought valiantly. The skeletons  fell over with the little picket fence attached to them. Right up to the front door I made it.  My sword tore and  raked through my foes.  I got tangled in cobwebs and a large fake spider plopped down on top of my head. I screamed.The door opened......

Mr.  Eldrige Thomas stood there. Clown makeup all over his face. Sad painted smile . He frowned. 

A  big bag of Halloween candy in his hand.  I waved hi with  my sword. "Trick or treat", was all I managed to say.

He looked at what I'd done. I think he tried not to laugh. He offered me a bag of popcorn. that was the going thing. Popcorn bags, molasses candy and gum. Then helped me get untangled from the cobwebs. 

Mr. Eldrige Thomas took me back over to my house. Cobwebs stuck to my sword. He scared my mother and father with his clown costume. But he still got invited in for a quick cup of tea. The sky lightened. Storm averted.World saved.

Mr. Eldrige Thomas gave me one of the the big vampire spiders to hang over our porch. My mother kept staring at its fangs. My father helped  put back the fallen decorations. The Skeletons   clung to the fence once again.

And my sword was taken away from me,  ( like that stopped me in the future) and I was banned from ever going near "them bones" again............

"Skeletons rattled in your heart and you couldn't escape them.." 

                                        -Susie Clevenger

Photographs 2021

 

AND the MOUNTAINS..............

"When I no longer thrill to the first snow of the season, I will know I am growing old...." 

                                 -Lady Bird Johnson

All photographs taken in and around Campbell River, B.C. The Watch for Elk sign always  amuses me. I've never seen an elk cross the road.....but I have wondered what they find on the other side..........

A lot of the close ups and full on pics  taken with canon zoom lens from my front door. Fortunate to have a clear view of Mt. Washington Range. 

"I am younger each year at first snow. Then I believe.." -Anne Sexton

And from Tyee Spit. October. Just before the first snow this week........

"A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things..." -George R.R. Martin

From the Pier in Campbell River, a wisp of snow before the big storm.....

"First snows of winter floated down on his eyelashes, and covered the branches around him and silenced all trace of the world..." 

                                                 -Anne Carson

The mountain first thing in the morning, covered....early early this year.........with fresh snow

"The sensation of the first snow, when everything is blanketed in white, soft and quiet..." -Erin Morgenstern

       And from our front door step, this is what it looks like in the distance..........

"The first fall of snow is not  only an event, it is a magical event..." 

                                                       - J.B. Priestley

              "Do you remember your first snow? " - Lara Biyuts

From the hill , the mist joins up with the cloud and winds around the Mt. Washington range. I never  tire of seeing it like this..........

"I remember looking on new snow with new eyes..." -Edward M. Purcell

Photographs 2021   Campbell River, B.C.

 

The Day

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things... "

-Robert Brault

Heading down into Campbell River.........

"I have more to thank for than to complain about..." 

                            -Bangambiki Habyarimana

                    "There is one day that is ours...." -O.Henry

"After a good dinner, one can forgive anyone, even one's own relations..." -Oscar Wilde

"Acknowledge the good you already have in your life..." -Eckhart Tolle

                                                                             Simon from the hill, on thanksgiving day

"Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder..." -G.K. Chesterton

            Taking flight...............

"In your darkest hour, give thanks, for in due time, morning will come.." -Michael B. Johnson

Heading down Dogwood................... oh that crazy rush hour.....

"You may never know where thanksgiving, kindness and gratitude may take you..." - Debasish Mridha

                                                                                Cordelia ............

                              "Life is a celebration..." -Frances Lucille

          "Celebrate your Journey of Life....." -Lailah Gifty Akita

Photographs 2021

                                                 Spencer of the gate.........