How in the world could it be the last day of October already?
Like witches, time flies, eh?
It’s been a busy weird month here at Chez Bean, but we did manage to turn three basic pumpkins into festive Jack-o-Lanterns, one of which is featured below.
And I have plenty of candy* + plastic bloody eyeballs on hand for tonight’s trick-or-treaters**.
So all is well here as I wait… wait… wait… for darkness to fall, when little ghosts and goblins at the front door will call.
Happy Halloween!
* I usually hand out Snickers, but [get this] yesterday when I went to buy Snickers at Kroger it was sold out, so I opted for Twix & Skittles & Starburst.
** We get anywhere from 125 to 225 kids here. The number fluctuates depending on Halloween Day weather and the day of the week.
Again let me remind you that the purpose of this event is to highlight positive news stories, presenting these stories on your blog on the last Friday of the month.
This being the last Friday of October, I have an easily overlooked news story to share with you, my gentle readers & fellow #WATWB participants.
THE NEWS STORY:
On a beach in Australia a woman, Melissa Hatheier, 50, saw a stranded shark that seemed to be disoriented, swimming too close to the sandy beach, not out in the ocean.
She waded into the shallow water, dived on him, and grabbed the shark in such a was as to not hurt herself, while relocating him farther away from the beach.
That is, putting him back in the deeper part of the ocean where he belonged.
[Did we not all immediately think of Mack the Knife when we read this article?]
Are we not inspired to be better people because of her?
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I’m going to say YES! to all three questions because this is a news story unlike any other that I’ve read lately.
I like that Hatheier saw a problem [shark in wrong place]; sized up the situation [I can capture this critter who is “kind of like a toddler”]; and then went on to solve the problem [put shark in better place].
Granted I’d be scared to try to hug a shark, but I say kudos to Melissa Hatheier for doing so. And to any and all women out there who unceremoniously make their immediate world a safer place.
Today I’m joining Thursday Doors, hosted by Norm Frampton, so that I can share with you the following door photos– and a bit of almost forgotten history.
I took these photos at Evergreen Cemetery in Miamiville, OH. It’s a small well-tended cemetery that is typical of township cemeteries throughout Ohio.
What is not typical in this cemetery is one particular tombstone [2 photos below] that you can see from the road as you drive by.
Here are some pics of what I saw at this cemetery on an unexpectedly foggy October morning. The whole place looked so spooky cool– just perfect for my adventure.
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DOORS on stone building erected 1870.
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Typical old tombstones from 1800s.
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Typical older monument with girl looking skyward.
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DOORS on monument in newer part of cemetery.
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Tombstone of Charlie Henry Rich, the man who in 1867 dealt the infamous “Aces and Eights” [Dead Man’s Hand] to Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, S.D.
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Back of Charlie Henry Rich’s tombstone that is equally not as typical as the front.
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DOOR on cemetery maintenance building built in 1983.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.”
~ Romeo and Juliet
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The other morning I gave the shrub roses their last trim of the season. Even though the calendar says it’s fall, these bushes are officially ready for winter.
Most of the roses were faded and falling apart, but a few flowers were still buds or starting to bloom.
I saved the healthy stragglers, putting them together in a casual bouquet in a vase on the kitchen counter.
Later I noticed that the sun, shining through the window, made the water sparkle and the colors pop, leaving me with one last glimpse of summer’s beauty, while waiting for winter to arrive.
• + • + •
“Light, seeking light, doth light of light beguile; So ere you find where light in darkness lies, Your light grows dark by losing of your eyes.”
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 