Halloween Night

Fresh from my double catting, I walked on, deeper into Marietta, Ohio's old downtown. One of our favorite shops is "Found," an antique store with a difference. It's very beautiful, and poking through it is a lot like going through your grandmother's attic. You're supposed to open the cabinets and drawers, cupboards and chifferobes. Inside them you'll find things for sale. It's a wonderful concept. 

Old bikes are parked outside, lending a timeless feel to the storefront.

It was closed, so I made noseprints on the glass.

I love this interior. It wasn't just that it was Halloween night. It was spooky in an absolute sense.

Going around the side of the building, I found this character.

Time and weather have not been kind to him/her. Weather is rarely kind. 

That's not creepy. That's really creepy.

I looked up the street, the lights coming through maples all afire.

Not a soul was stirring. Old Texaco pumps glowed. I sang softly, "You can trust your car to the man who wears the star, the big red (bright??)Texaco STAR!"

It was getting dark, and I didn't fancy walking across the old railroad bridge in the dark. So I started back toward my car.

I heard quiet footsteps behind me, and turned around to see Michael Myers and a couple of colleagues. Oh!

May I take your photo? The kid who wasn't in costume tried to melt away, and Michael raised his knife. Great, thank you! 

 Half my brain was chuckling, and the other half was semi-liquid and going EEeeeeeeeeee.

Although I purposely didn't pick up my already brisk walking pace, I'll confess I was happy to get off that bridge and veer off to the side, letting the three go by.

Everything looked a little spooky at that point. I stopped to look at the names on a monument on Front Street, honoring the 48 pioneers who made the first settlement in what was known as the Northwest Territory.

Rufus Putnam, yes, I know that one, and Anselm Tupper. We've got streets and a camp (with bonus Adena snapping turtle mound!) named for them. Ebenezer Sproat. Earl Sproat. Jabez Barlow. Phineas Coburn. Theophilus Learned. Their names have sweet music to my ear. My eye stopped, circled and stooped on the sixth name. Peregrine Foster?  Why couldn't my parents have named me Peregrine?

Musing on the unfairness of it all, and wondering why a moniker like Peregrine hadn't occurred to us when it came time to name our kids, I walked on. We could have had a Phoebe and a Peregrine. Dang!

The lights shone beautifully on the darkening Ohio.

I followed an insistent noise, as of a small two-cycle engine, to an historic church.  I looked at the awning that had been stuck on the poor old building, like an elephant's trunk, a honk nose on a clown.

And was arrested by the movements of a man, wielding a...chainsaw?? Yikes!

Alone in the dark, he did a graceful dance. Fallen leaves fled terrified before him. Just a man with a  leaf blower. On a Saturday night, in the dark, on Halloween. Reason told me he was clearing the parking lot and sidewalks before Sunday morning services. But...in the dark??

That's not creepy. That's...really creepy.

Clearly, some levity was needed. It was time to meet Bill and go to Liam's play, "Vampires and Werewolves." Liam had the part of Paris in this send-up of "Romeo and Juliet."

I have to say he made a striking vampire. Ectomorphic, pale--and they didn't have to do a thing to his hair. 

He emoted beautifully, with a kind of swoopy voice and mien. 

He had a thing for Juliet, but she only had eyes for Romeo.

Who was a werewolf. Please note Liam's hands. They're for real. 

My favorite shot from the play.

Afterward, out in the hard light of the school hallway. 

Liam and Katy the werewolf. 

Owen made an incredible Michael Jackson.

The cast and crew outdid themselves. I was so proud of them all, and glad to see how much fun they'd had in the making of this hilarious show. Way to go, Ms. Huck and FFHS Drama!

I peeked in the ticket booth to find Phoebe's hand-painted cinder block from her senior year. It cracks me up, and brings a little clutch to my heart, too.

Thus ended a creepy, spooky, catty, fun, perfect Halloween night.