I love the whole month of October. In my family, it's cram-packed with birthdays and anniversaries, but it's such a time of change, too. There is a sharp edge to the air, cold and clean, and the farmers turn up all sorts of harvesting smells that remind me of growing up in the country. People begin to nestle into their homes, leaving behind their hot, crazy summer schedules. We turn on our ovens for baked goods. We throw a log on the fire. And you know that winter is just around the bend when you're driving through a neighborhood and suddenly smell someone's wood stove, or you hear the low chorus of geese flying overhead. October is a time for quiet. We get ready for a season of family and warmth, of tradition and thanksgiving, of memories and tidings.
Another thing I love about October is the eerie dark as it presses down on us a little earlier. We nurture our kid fears and make-believe in monsters and slithery things in the woods. We nuzzle under blankets and watch scary movies. We make up stories and push our friends into dark rooms. I love thinking up Halloween costumes and looking for the Great Pumpkin. I love watching little kids go door to door, lifting their pillowcases for candy and too shy to utter words, turtlenecks and sneakers under sparkly princess dresses, padded muscles and plastic light sabers. I love digging through my kids' candy stashes once they've returned exhausted from trick-or-treating with runny make-up and costumes askew. If you think you're only creating memories for your children, you're wrong. If you're all set to go bah-humbugging through the season, you'll miss out on a slight tugging of your heartstrings, a gentle soothing hum in the well-being of your soul, and other warm, gooey feelings. Get out a stack of construction paper, and make oak leaves and paper chains with the kiddies. Play a game of Ghosts in the Graveyard. If you're my dad, put on a scary blowfish mask and hide in a crawl space in the basement until your kids innocently come downstairs to watch TV in the spare bedroom.
Where was I again? Ah, yes. Candy corn...and warm happy autumn/Halloween thoughts.
Materials: orange wood pendant, yellow glass beads, orange faceted glass beads, orange memory wire, translucent white bugle beads, orange wooden disk beads, yellow seed beads, gold wire
