Spooky but not Scary

Our little nursery school has a Halloween party every year for the kids. I was in charge of planning it last year and our mandate from the director was to make it "spooky but not scary". It's a mantra I chanted every day as I planned the party. It turned out beautifully with our many volunteer parents helping to implement the "vision". This year I helped decorate the tatoo parlor and painted a mural for our walkway. We always have a miniscule budget but somehow everything turns out great and the kids are so happy to be there. My reputation as someone who does a lot with a little is gaining momentum at the school. So when the Altadena Country Club was looking for someone to create a haunted house on a tight budget, my friend Lisa from the nursery school recommended me for the job. The requirements were simple:  make it scary for kids aged 7-14, but make it inexpensive. I was a little put off by their budget because I had to factor in my hours and the cost of props, and frankly, scary is just not my thing. Talking to the activities director and touring the facilities helped to consolidate my vision. I proposed a "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" theme with the headless horseman hunting for his next victim in the haunted house. The day of the party installation arrived with me hauling two cars full of scary masks, lots of black tulle, an entire cemetery with tombstone and skeletons, and a blood splattered banner. The masterpiece was a casket with a headless bride mannequin that the club dug up from their shed. The haunted house was basically a warren of corridors leading from the Kids' Club into the main lobby. We turned off all the lights and hung dark orange lights at various spots. Heads dangled off the ceilings and cobwebs and black tulle clawed at your face and enveloped your body as you walked down the hall. All the while the sound track of blood curdling screams and frightening howls filled the air as you round the corner to find the corpse of the headless bride in the coffin, propped up so you are standing face to face with her severed head. I was scared out of my bloody mind when I finished the installation. My consolation arrived when two staff members asked me to please turn on the lights because I was scaring them witless too.

Mission accomplished!

New beginnings

Nascent: emerging; coming into existence, commencement or inception.

One of my favorite words, so evocative, it conjures up images of my wedding day, my first sonogram, and the lush green of spring's first growth. On this first cold night in the twilight of October when the winds are howling through the oak tree, I envision springtime and Van Gogh's "Almond Branches in Bloom". I remember the feeling of pure joy shot through with disbelief when I first saw it up close at LACMA some years back, before marriage and children. It is simply a painting of white flowering almond branches against a brilliant blue sky, but the colors and composition were exceptionally luscious. I stood beguiled in front of the painting while the crowd jostled about me, something about this painting created a pull and desire. I longed for its beauty and to hold onto the elusiveness of springtime. Van Gogh dedicated this painting to his nephew, Vincent Willem, who was born six months before his own death in July, 1890.

The top picture is my tribute to Vincent Van Gogh. It was taken two years back on our yearly trip to Point Reyes where we stayed at a small apple farm. The apple blossoms were in full bloom on our last day and I took several shots looking through the tree at the sky. Seeing it now brings me back to that spring day with my two girls and husband, our departure imminent and sadness overtaking us. It was a lovely trip filled with hikes among the verdant hills and windblown treks to deserted beaches and visits to oyster farms and cheesemakers. Sweet memories to tide me over as the wind bay & bellow in the night.