early morning wind
in the umbrella
of the pumpkin stand
MARLENE MOUNTAIN
Photo: Bienatole, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Archives for posts with tag: Halloween
Winds from Hurricane Sandy washed this boat onto the tracks at the Metro-North’s Ossining Station in Ossining, New York. (MTA New York photo via AP)
Many post-Hurrican Sandy sights are surreal — just in time for Halloween. I can imagine the above scene of the boat on the train tracks in a Stephen King book! Maybe one is in the works.
The above photo called to mind the great Surrealist — Belgian painter René Magritte (1898-1967).
Growing up in Chicago, I frequently visited the Art Institute, home of one of Magritte’s most discussed works “Time Transfixed” (included at right) — and was always fascinated by this painting (who wouldn’t be?).
According to Magritte: “I decided to paint the image of a locomotive . . . In order for its mystery to be evoked, [and] another immediately familiar image without mystery—the image of a dining room fireplace—was joined.”
Siding has blown off a house in Scituate, Massachusetts due to high winds from Hurricane Sandy. Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters
A Boston-based costume website advises would-be customers to “Capture the Great Gatsby Era.” I have to hand it to the culture-loving folks in Beantown. While revelers in other cities are dressing up as ghouls, zombies, witches, and Honey Boo Boo, Bostonians are celebrating Halloween by dressing as Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and Nick Carraway. Très elegant…
THE HALLOWEEN TREE (Excerpt)
by Ray Bradbury
“It was a small town by a small river and a small lake in a small northern part of a Midwest state. There wasn’t so much wilderness around you couldn’t see the town. But on the other hand there wasn’t so much town you couldn’t see and feel and touch and smell the wilderness. The town was full of trees. And dry grass and dead flowers now that autumn was here. And full of fences to walk on and sidewalks to skate on and a large ravine to tumble in and yell across. And the town was full of…
Boys.
And it was the afternoon of Halloween.
And all the houses shut against a cool wind.
And the town was full of cold sunlight.
But suddenly, the day was gone.
Night came out from under each tree and spread.”
Amazon.com Blurb: Eight boys set out on a Halloween night and are led into the depths of the past by a tall, mysterious character named Moundshroud. They ride on a black wind to autumn scenes in distant lands and times, where they witness other ways of celebrating this holiday about the dark time of year…This is a superb book for adults to read to children, a way to teach them, quite painlessly, about customs and imagery related to Halloween from ancient Egypt, Mediterranean cultures, Celtic Druidism, Mexico, and even a cathedral in Paris.—Fiona Webster (Note: This 160-page illustrated book is currently selling for $5.50 at Amazon.com — that’s the price for a new copy. Sounds like a bargain.)
early morning wind
in the umbrella
of the pumpkin stand
MARLENE MOUNTAIN
Photo: Bienatole, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Silver Birch Press 