October Thoughts Day 15: Unexpected Magic

There comes a time in my October Thoughts, sometimes multiple times, where I panic. I have no idea what to write and then I start to question why it is that I even write at all. After all, who really cares that I love the tenth month of the year so much? Who really wants to read a mini novel every day while I go on and on about some Octobery nonsense? But then something happens, it always does, that inspires me or reminds me why I write. Today was no different and it is fitting that it should happen at the halfway mark of the month. I can’t believe that after today we start on the downhill portion of October. I can already feel it beginning to pick up speed and zoom toward November; but I won’t let that happen, not quite yet.

I wasn’t feeling especially great today; which always promotes self-doubt and stifles the creative juices,   but then the mail came and with it a special unexpected delivery. I got a box. A special October box and it made all the difference in the world.

I looked at the box in my hands and was both excited and the same time sad. It was a Schrodinger’s Cat kind of situation. I desperately wanted to open the box; I needed a pick-me-up, but once I did the box would be open and I could no longer spend time guessing what was inside. So I set the box down and took a nap. After I woke up I watched a favorite spooky movie. Then my thoughts returned to the box. I gently jiggled it to try and guess the contents. I put it back down and went to eat dinner. Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I opened the box. Inside was a perfect representation of October. There were scary things, cute things, yummy things, homemade things and everything in-between. It was like a clown car of October goodness spilling forth with each layer uncovering some new treasure.  

After opening it and examining everything multiple times, I sat on the floor with my goodies surrounding me and I got to thinking, aside from being sick, this was a perfect October day and not just because of the box. The sky had been dark and threatening, just the way I like it. The clouds were in all sorts of shapes and formations. Some looked like alien invasion clouds; you know the kind, the ones that roil and froth right before the alien ship bursts forth from the atmosphere. Then there were the clouds that looked more like something Dorothy would have seen in Kansas on her way to Oz. It even rained a little and there is promise of more to come.

I got to relax and enjoy a few of my special October movies. It always amazes me how underrated the cinematography, make-up and special effects are in scary movies. Turn off the sound if you have to, but really, watch the camera work on some of them. The beauty and creativity is stunning. No wonder so many people get their start in the horror genre. It might be considered low rent and it won’t win any Oscars, but there is real artistry to see in some of those films. I promise.

In addition to movie watching I got to finish another of my October books and begin a new one. Both have highly creative premises and are/were quite entertaining. One so far has spooked me so good that I had nightmares of a sort, they weren’t scary per say, but my poor brain simply couldn’t stop digesting what I had read. It made for some interesting dreams let me tell you. But that’s half the fun.

I also got to lose myself in some of my October music and while online today I found a black and orange lava lamp for sale. It will show up in my mailbox on Tuesday and I can’t wait to while away the hours watching it ooze and glide. I really don’t know how I’ve gone so long without owning one in the first place.

Thanks to my surprise box, tomorrow I have decorations galore to place in new homes. But for now I will be content to sit back and watch another of my October movies and enjoy the days as they come.

So why do I share all of this with you? When you love something you can’t help but gush about it. You want others to see it the way you do and enjoy it with you. I realize that not everything about October will be everyone’s cup of tea, or even cocoa, but just for a few minutes a day I can take you on a journey to see it through my eyes. Maybe you will find your own wonder. Maybe it will cause you to see things a bit differently than you did before. Perhaps all you will get out of it is the fact that a grown woman still gets the giggles over haunted houses and screaming door mats and you are way more mature than she is. Whatever the case I hope a little of my October joy finds you and adds an extra sparkle to your day.

Thank you for sticking with me and for letting me share my October thoughts with you.

October Thought Day 14: Forecast Calls for Cozy

With the weather taking a turn more toward the inclement, I felt that the thought for today should center more on the cozy aspect of October. After all, October is snuggle weather; and not snuggle because you have to, snuggle because you want to. The air is crisp and cool but not unpleasantly so. Now and then the wind may pick up but it never lasts, and the next thing you know, you wake up to a perfectly golden fall day. Some autumnal days may be a touch rainy but it isn’t anything like the sleet and snow of December, at least not yet.

October is when you start pulling out the heavy fuzzy blankets from storage and wrapping yourself up in them like a burrito. Sometimes even the flannel sheets come out and you get to spend hours luxuriating in the cozy warmth of their embrace, and there is nothing quite like a cold October floor to send one scampering back into the soft cocoon of still warm sheets.

In October the sweatshirts and long sleeved shirts make a fashionable appearance and socks come back into vogue, as do long boots and leggings. In October you can wear your knit cap and earmuffs and feel right at home, and there is nothing quite so cozy as the warmth of a hoodie that smells like a campfire. It’s like wearing a hug.

Speaking of which, October is a time for bonfires and relighting the fireplace. One can spend hours sitting and watching the hypnotic flames spark and twist in the autumn air. In front of the fire surrounded by blankets is a good place to snuggle up with a book and a hot cup of pumpkin cocoa. It is also the ideal place to tell ghost stories.

October is the time for hot apple cider and warm donuts. Hearty stews and casseroles come back on the menu as well as fresh baked bread right out of the oven. Fall is all about comfort food that sticks to your ribs and makes you feel warm inside and out.

Fall is a time of wrapping up and drawing near. Of pulling those we love closer and taking a minute to think of the blessings the year has bestowed. The days get darker faster and there is more time to reflect on a job well done and the prospects of tomorrow.

Yes, October is all about coziness and contemplation.

It’s about brightly colored scarves and looking forward to the holidays before you stop looking forward to the holidays. It’s warm socks and mittens and laughing into the wind.

It’s those breathless moments after running to your car and sitting waiting for the heater to kick in.

October is all of this and more. So snuggle down, drink something warm and bask in the October glow.

October Thought Day 13: The Quest

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here…..whoops, wrong story. I went on a quest, luckily before I fell ill. It wasn’t epic like a Lord of the Rings type quest and the only real danger was from other shoppers getting in my way. There weren’t monsters to fend off, unless you count my evil bed head. No, I was a solitary paladin venturing into the great commercial abyss.

Every October finds me on the prowl for a specific something. I get an itch in my brain for a certain kind of October thing and the obsession almost becomes manic. Sometimes it is a search for my semi elusive monster cereal, other times it is for a new corn maze experience. I have ventured forth and conquered new October adventures and have found exciting new locales. But one quest always seems to be left unfinished. I have searched from the dark recesses of the interwebs to the frozen aisles of the grocery store and everywhere in between, but still it eludes me, what is this October phoenix you ask, it is pumpkin nog.

I found it five years ago in my local grocery store in the corner of the extra refrigerated foods case. A golden light shown down from the heavens illuminating it and an unearthly choir sang a tune. Much like Arthur seeing the sword in the stone, there it was in its case, soy pumpkin nog. Ok, so it didn’t exactly happen like that. They wasn’t a light, but there was muzak coming out of the store speakers.

Of course with my seasonal pumpkin mania I bought one to try it out. It proved so tasty that I went back and bought another. I sipped on it all through the month of November when they finally stopped selling it, then happily waited until the next year when it would come again. Only it didn’t. I waited and waited, I went to other grocery stores but no luck. It seems it was a one-time thing. But then some friends from out of state found some for me and shipped it over. Life was good again, till the next year where once again, no nog to be found, anywhere. Sure, regular pumpkin nog was on the shelves taunting me, but no soy. I got so desperate I bought the pumpkin spice creamer, but it just wasn’t the same.

I enlisted the help of friends far and wide and once again visited every grocery store in a fifty mile radius. No luck. It seemed that my beloved nog was not to be. Either that or it was a figment of my imagination. I asked the local grocer if they would be restocking it and he seemed confused. He was pretty sure they had never sold such a thing.

For a few years I brooded and sulked, until this year on a whim I tried the internet again. I had almost given up hope when there it was, almond milk pumpkin nog. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I refreshed the page and once I was convinced that it was real, bought it as fast as my fingers could fly over the keyboard. I didn’t care that it came in a pack of six, that just meant that I could enjoy it longer. I waited and waited for the package to arrive, then the message came that my shipment was delayed. Then I got a new delivery date, but that too got delayed. I was getting suspicious and a bit irritable. There is nothing like a goal almost achieved to set one on edge.

But then it came. I may or may not have danced with the box, I may or may not have squealed. Six glorious containers of nog all for me (yeah, like I’m gonna share). I haven’t even cracked one open yet. I want to save it for a special occasion. At the very least I will open one on Halloween. However, these things do have an expiration date and how awful would it be if I never drank it and just let it go bad? Then where would I be? Once again nogless, that’s where.

So the moral of this story, chill out, it’s only pumpkin nog for goodness sake. And go find your own bottle, this one’s all mine ;)

October Thought Day 12: Rock the Vote

There is an important date drawing ever near. It will be upon us before we know it. Sides have been taken. Lines have been drawn. Heated words have been spoken. The candidates will do almost anything to get your vote. The final tally may very well impact the world. Yes, I’m talking about the General Mills Monster Cereal Election. Wait, what did you think I meant?

With all the mudslinging, scandal and general craziness going on lately in the actual campaigns I thought a light-hearted break from the insanity that is this year’s election cycle was in order. I don’t remember how I found it, I think it was Twitter, but this year, General Mills has capitalized on election fever and asked which monster cereal should be deemed America’s best. There is a website set up and there are platforms and dossiers on each of the three candidates.

You get to vote every day until the 31^st of October, but just like in actual politics I think the system is rigged. You see, I have commandeered my family’s email accounts and voted every day multiple times, yet still, the poll numbers stay the same. I find it hard to believe that my constant ballot box stuffing isn’t making a dent or even a small indentation in the process. What’s a girl gotta do?

The three contenders for the monster crown are Boo Berry, Count Chocula and of course my personal favorite Franken Berry. I have rubbed my Franken Berry doll for good luck, worn my Franken Berry pin, and though about going door to door in my Franken Berry costume to spread the good word. But Franky still remains steadfastly in third. The site even has a handy guide of the country so you can see which state is voting for which monster. So far the only state showing Franky any love is Montana. You go Montanan’s? Montanites? Montaooners? Montantonians? Anyway, stupid Count Chocula is in the lead with 41% of the vote. It is my least favorite of the cereals. It tastes like chalk. Boo Berry has 30% and Franky has 29%, always and forever 29%. Sigh. It also doesn’t help that Franky is doing the Nixon “I’m not a crook” pose on his cereal box. I think there is subliminal sabotage going on. Just saying.

So if you want to get in on the fun go to generalmills.promo.eprize.com and vote up a storm. Unless of course you are a Count Chocola supporter in which case, hey, look over there (grabs your computer and runs very quickly away).

On the serious side though, if you haven’t registered to actually vote in the real country elections, go to this legitimate site to do so while there is still time. https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote. Your vote really does matter and this year more so than most.

October Thought Day 11: Rainy Day Woman

I’ve been wishing. I’ve been hoping. I’ve been watching the Weather Channel like some sort of lunatic and today it happened, the first October rain of the season. No wonder I felt better today. There is something otherworldly about October rain. It isn’t as mesmerizing as spring rain, but it is right up there. It’s like liquid joy, the emotion not the dish soap.

There wasn’t any rain when I first woke up and it wasn’t even in the forecast. The sun was hiding behind clouds and that was good enough for me. Then as the day progressed, the sky got darker and more menacing and then the heavens opened up. I quickly grabbed my blanket and a good book and sat out on the porch so I could better enjoy my liquid sunshine. I closed my eyes and listened to the tap dance of wet little droplets on the roof. I opened my eyes and watched the rain slide down the drainpipes. I sniffed in the delicious scent of damp earth. It was awesome. I took leave of my blanket and cozy nook to put on my rain stompin’ boots so I could twirl and splash in the small accumulated puddles. I had enormous fun.

Sooner than I wanted the rain turned from a drizzle to a mist and then stopped altogether. But the sky was still dark and the wind took over where the rain left off. I hope the rain comes back again this evening so its soothing melody can serenade me to sleep.

I love rain in general, but in October it is truly something special. I love the way the rain makes the leaves all shiny and enhances their jewel tones. I love the slurping, sucking sound they make as I scoop them up. I have been caught in rainstorms twice while exploring corn mazes and it is wonderful. I have my trusty umbrella handy and I enjoy the sound the rain makes on the stalks. That and I like to imagine if the astronauts are really bored, they can key into a satellite and watch a tiny black dot go through the maze. Like a live action version of Pac-Man.

October rain in sodium lights is even better than squishing through a wet maze. The lights turn the rain orange and it looks like pumpkin juice falling from the sky. If they are regular lights the scene is no less spectacular, against the inky darkness the rain looks like diamonds. Which prompts me to ask, is there such a thing as a pumpkin diamond, or at least an orange diamond? OH MY GOODNESS there is!!!!! I am pretty sure I need one.

Anyway, October rain, what a fantastic treat in a month that is chock full of them.

October Thought Day 10: Would You Rather Part 1

1. Walk through a graveyard at midnight or spend the night in a spooky abandoned house?
   -Hands down the graveyard. Is it weird that I am excited to do that? I think I’ll go practice? Nasty abandoned house. Never mind the spook factor, there might be rats or mold. Not to mention no plumbing. Pass.
2. Dunk for apples or carve a jack-o-lantern?
   - No fair, I want to do both. But if hard pressed to choose, I’d go with the pumpkin carving. But I haven’t been apple bobbing in so long. Ok, I really don’t care about the apple part so much as the chance to dunk my head into a giant tub of water. Still choosing the pumpkin though.  
3. Be allowed to eat as much Halloween candy as you want for a week, but then have what is left taken away? Or be allowed to eat only one piece a day until it runs out?
   - Seriously? No contest. One piece a day. And if I did choose the other option, what makes them think that I would actually have any leftover. Ha ha ha ha Challenge accepted.
4. Meet a vampire or meet a werewolf?
   - Well for me it will always be vampire. When you have phobias of werewolves you certainly don’t want to meet one, unless it is the Pina Colada sipping one that Warren Zevon sings about. Besides, the history major geek girl in me wants to pick the vampires brains about what he or she has seen in their long life.
5. Be a vampire or be a werewolf?
   - Again, no contest. Vampire all the way. I already don’t go out in sunlight so no real loss there.
6. Read a spooky story or see a spooky movie?
   - Wow, make me pick between my two great loves. But, looking at my reading habits I don’t own too many spooky books and the ones that I have read that I can recall gave me nightmares. Only a handful of movies have done that. So, I pick the scary movies for my sanity. 
7. Have a costume that is really amazing, but also very uncomfortable or have a costume that is not anything at all special but is comfortable to wear?
   - Uh, all my costumes fall into the first category. I have tried the comfy but nothing special and I just feel cheated and or lazy. Hey, maybe there is a niche job opportunity for the creation of amazing costumes that are comfy. Now if only I knew how to sew….
8. Have a homemade costume or a store bought costume?
   - Really well done store bought. I am not creative or crafty enough for homemade.
9. Get 20 of your favorite treats on Halloween or get 50 treats that are not your favorite on Halloween?
   - Uh, the 20. Why would I eat 50 of something I don’t even like? Like those nasty waxy taffy things or Twizzlers or white chocolate. Ewwww I just grossed myself out.
10. Go trick-or-treating with a group of friends or get paid $20 to take a little kid trick-or-treating?
    - Um are you kidding me with this question, it’s so easy. You mean I get to dress up anyway, hang out with a kid who wants to trick-or-treat and I get paid? Did I win the Halloween lottery or something? Yes, I pick the second option. Totally.
11. Go to a really great Halloween party where you didn’t know anyone or go to a kind of lame Halloween party where you knew almost everyone there?
    - Can I pick neither? What makes the first party so good? I’m torn. Oh, I know, I’ll go to the lame one, and then grab the people I know and go to the great party. See what I did there. Sneaky.
12. Win a contest for having the best costume or win a contest for making the best jack-o-lantern?
    - Costume hands down. I only carve pumpkins for me and my skills are rudimentary at best.
13. Have to sleep in a coffin or have to live in a giant pumpkin?
    - Oooh both sound really cool. But the coffin thing sounds like something for just one night and it sounds like I have to live in the pumpkin indefinitely. Those things rot and smell man. Coffin hands down. But can we keep the lid open at least?
14. Have to eat 6 fish eyeballs or have to eat a small frog?
    - I’m going to assume the frog is dead and cooked and then I will choose it. Tastes like chicken right? No way am I eating fish eyeballs. Gross.
15. Have to wear your Halloween costume to school or work every day till Thanksgiving or have to wear a jack-o-lantern over your head to school or work for the first three days of November?
    -Pumpkins smell so I choose the costume till Thanksgiving. Plus, the pumpkin would be all slimy and hard to see out of. It would be sliding around and make it hard to get anything done. Yuck.
16. Help design and make a haunted house or go to a haunted house that someone else has created?
    - Didn’t we cover this already in one of my previous thoughts? So much yes to wanting to design my own haunted house. Pretty, pretty please let me. How awesome would that be!!!!
17. Be chased by 5 zombies or be chased by one werewolf?
    - Well you already know what I’m gonna say, especially if they are slow zombies. Werewolves are fast man, no way am I choosing that option. But the real question should be, would I rather be a werewolf or a zombie? To that I would pick the werewolf option because it would only inconvenience me once a month. The zombie thing is kinda daily. Shuffle, shuffle, moan, eat brains. Nah, pass.
18. Trick-or-treat in a neighborhood or trick-or-treat at a mall?
    - Neighborhood all the way. Stores mostly give out coupons and the décor isn’t very noteworthy. Neighborhoods you get to be in the dark running around looking at stuff. Plus you get to knock on doors. That’s the fun part, aside for the candy of course.
19. Eat all of your Halloween candy or trade your Halloween candy for $10?
    - Um, I worked hard for that candy and $10 isn’t even going to recoup my losses. Unless we are talking the 50 pieces of yucky candy from question 9, in which case, sure, I’ll trade my candy for money and then go buy the good stuff.
20. Dress up as a devil or dress up as an angel?
    -Angel all the way, I want wings.

These were way too easy. I’ll have to find some harder ones. I’m anxious to see what you choose; you don’t have to give reasons either. Do you have any would you rathers for me?

October Thought Day 9: An Ode to the Scary Movie

Sometimes when I need to clear my mind of all relevant thought I jump on Pinterest and see what goodies the internet has to offer. I was browsing the Halloween section and came upon a pair of quotes which read as follows, “Dear paranoid people who check behind the shower curtain for murderers, if you do find one, what's your plan?” The other was, “I love how in scary movies the person yells out hello. As if the bad guy is gonna be like yeah, I’m in the kitchen. Wanna sandwich?” And after I stopped laughing I thought about it, because both of these things are relevant in my family.

Since I watch an absurdly large amount of film and TV I also pick up weird ticks from said film and TV shows. Things like, whenever I get in an elevator I immediately check the roof to see how I can best escape from it if the power goes out because international terrorists have seized the Nakatomi building. I won’t go more than 10 feet out into the ocean because that’s where Jaws lives. I absolutely refused to go to summer camp. I listen for banjos if I’m trekking in the woods, when I fly I look for things on the wings of the plane, I have an irrational fear of the abominable snowman and werewolves, I’m pretty sure that some sort of monster will come out of the bathtub drain while I’m in it, the answer to who ya gonna call is always Ghostbusters, and if the picture on my TV screen ever turns to snow I will push you out of the way in my haste to run very far, very fast.

I am also prone to checking behind the shower curtain, under the bed and in closets for intruders. And now that you mention it, I don’t really have a plan for any of these scenarios. I think the sum total of my thought process is as follows. 1) I think there is something behind the shower curtain. Why? Because TV and movies have told me that there might be. Has there ever been someone lurking behind the shower curtain? No. So why do I check? 2) To make sure that I really am right and that there is in fact, no one behind the shower curtain. 3) Hold breath and check. The holding the breath part is really important for obvious sneaky reasons, because said beastie totally didn’t see me turn on the light or hear me stomping into the bathroom, or brushing my teeth. So the holding of the breath ensures stealth activity. 4) See that no one or thing is there and feel smug that I once again evaded certain doom and go off to watch another scary movie.

If ever there was to be someone or something lurking behind the shower curtain it would probably follow thusly. 1) Check behind shower curtain (remember to hold breath). 2) Find someone or something behind shower curtain. 3) Keep holding breath, and pull shower curtain back into original position. 4) Know that that the flimsy piece of plastic with ducks on it will act as an impenetrable barrier that the someone or something will never be able to breach. 5) Let breath out , scream and run away very fast, move to another city in another country and never take a shower ever again. Either that or I would stand there dumbstruck that there actually was someone in my shower. Then I would try to poke them to see if they were real. Or I would just flee in abject terror. Yeah, probably the last bit.

Then there is the second quote. My mother falls prey to this all the time. I walk in the house at any time of the night or day and she says “Rebecca is that you?” and I inform her no, I’m an alien from the planet Zorg come to steal her Skittles. She says ok and goes back to watching TV. My answer always changes but hers doesn’t. One time I asked her, ma, what would you do if I wasn’t the one that answered? She didn’t have a response. It’s funny how we go through life with all these little ingrained ticks and behaviors but we don’t stop to think why we do them. Sure, when she asks if it is me, she is just checking. But really, what’s the follow through on that scenario? Unless you are trained for those specific action plans, what actually are you going to do? Most likely we stand and stare and look dumb. Which leads me to my next topic, being an A1, grade A, veteran armchair scary movie quarterback.

The reason that I like scary movies is that I can mock the people in them for their poor choices all the while safely ensconced in my chair with a fuzzy blanket where no monsters are going to get me. I can berate the heroes and the cannon fodder for asking stupid questions like “Ralph, is that you?” or Hey, we’re home alone and heard an odd sound from the dark basement, who wants to go down and look. Watching a scary movie can make us look brave in comparison. We can be scared on our own terms and live to tell the tale. Sharknado, yeah I survived that. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, please, I see right through them. And Predator, those alien hunters don’t stand a chance against me.

But that’s what so good about the best scary/horror/monster movies, they make us think. They show us what the “monster” is and we get to conquer a fear. We get to live to tell the tale. We see the thing we are afraid of and we come out the other side. You can’t tell me that the Stepford Wives isn’t a horror film for obvious reasons, I mean the clothes alone not to mention the social commentary. But why are we afraid of zombies and werewolves? There are actually whole studies devoted to such things and they aren’t as hokey as you think. I once took a class on the Dracula myth and it was fascinating. And did you know that the Frankenstein monster was born out of the fear that science was starting to take the place of God. How does one confront that fear, you tell a story about it. Now-a-days all we see is some big green monster with bolts who tap dances or sells us candy, but at the time it gave voice to a legitimate concern. As a society we conquered the monster and moved on. Or did we?

So what do we fear now? What does that fear say about us or the current situation? Zombies seem to be the hot monster of the month. Brainless automatons that consume and consume and consume without satiation or regard. Hmmm, sound familiar? When they first came out, zombies were slow plodding things that could easily be outrun. I like those zombies. Granted, they don’t have to sleep and are a bit single minded, but still. Now the zombies are fast. Like Usain Bolt fast. That freaks me out. I like my slow zombies. Slow zombies make me feel safe I can reasonably outrun them. But fast zombies mirror the culture. We zoom and flit. We want more, more, more and we are never full. Hmmm.

So, the next time you shrug off a monster film as being dumb, stop and think about it. I’m not saying all of them are high art, but they are scary for a reason. And for the love of Mike, if you hear an odd noise in the middle of the night, whatever you do, don’t ask “who’s there? ;)