001/365 - 31 October 2015, Witch's New Year, Saturday | Only about a third of the houses in my Grandma's neighborhood had lights on for trick-or-treaters. I wanted to hug every person with a jack-o-lantern lit on the porch, a skeleton in a bush, every person who answered the door and let my toddlers grab one-too-many pieces of candy out of a bowl. Bless those generous, fun-loving souls.
002/365 - 1 November 2015, Day of the Dead, Day off, Sunday | After a couple days of being sick (pukey, achey, feverish, weak), Wolfman and I were both craving restorative red meat and grease, really good burgers. Five Guys sounded amazing, but my stomach took a couple hours to make up its mind about the intelligence of that decision. Burger Trip, indeed.
006/365 - 5 November 2015, Thursday | Among my favorite things about living in this house for the past few years has been these early morning fogs, rolling in and settling for about an hour as the sun rises, cloaking trees and our modest brick house. The tree in the foreground of the picture is one for which my father-in-law, Bob, has expressed great pity. It's always first to lose its leaves in Autumn and last to regrow them in Spring. I love that one bough of it pointing out toward the drive way, though; his entire life thus far, I have been picking Mads up and sitting him on that limb, my hands holding him steady while he touches the bark and looks around him and delights.
007/365 - 6 November 2015, Day Off, Friday | I took a lot of photos this day, but this is my favorite--not necessarily my best shot of the day, but my favorite. I imagine one day when he is a man, a woman might snap a photo to mirror this one--the boots, the way his hip is cocked, that serious, grumpy face.
003/365 - 2 November 2015, Monday | When I can, I park the car (we call her Brunhilde) under trees. I have this feeling that being close to trees is good for Brunhilde, that the trees whisper a little love to her as she waits, that they lend their life force to her aching old bones (parts). Here is the tree I park next to when I drive myself to work; I love the way its leaves look this autumn, after night as fallen, with a street light shining down on it.
004/365 - 3 November 2015, Tuesday | I'd forgotten after years of sedentary office jobs just how labor intensive retail work can be. These two mannequins are tough broads to dress; their arms are reluctant to leave their sockets, and then a little more reluctant to return once clothed. I worked up a sweat. Usually, I leave the two mannequins in our front window for April to dress, mostly because I know she enjoys it. But, they'd been dressed in black for a few weeks, and I couldn't help switching things up with Easter egg pastels, a little unorthodox for Autumn, but, I think, a lovely way to break the rules.
005/365 - 4 November 2015, Wednesday | A rainy few days, and we've got mushrooms growing on the wooden boarders of our hedges. These, I believe, are Jack O' Lantern mushrooms (Omphalotus illudens), pretty appropriate for this time of year and this place of residence. Upon researching this mushroom, I came across this line by Michael Kuo on Mushroom Expert (dot com), "The Jack O'Lantern is the focus of the largest and most insidious conspiracy in the mycological world." To find out of what conspiracy he writes (and I so recommend you do), read the article; it's a hoot.
