It's Halloween morning and like always on Halloween, the air is mobile and the sky is nice and dark. It's still sunny, though the light seems to be coming from anywhere else but the sun. The light, the wind, the leaves running around...I love Halloween. As a kid growing up in Tennessee, I would always make it a point to go off by myself on a walk to the woods or something just so I could be with Halloween. Everything was different on this day; the light, the air, the clouds, and I wanted to be with it as it was happening. Halloween makes me happy. I remember being really young and my mom having to turn the closet light on so I could sleep. I also would never dangle my legs over the edge of the bed because whatever was under there was hoping for that kind of mistake. What I don't remember is when all that shifted. I can only imagine I got a glimpse of some 60's horror classic and that was all it took. My absolute #1 favorite childhood memories are of me, self- sequestered in the living room on Sunday afternoons with curtains drawn, watching episodes of Shock Theater. I so looked forward to that couple of hours with Dracula or The Creature From the Black Lagoon...whatever it was, it was mine alone.
Needless to say, none of that has changed. I still love horror movies, and I'm still surrounded by monsters of all kinds. Some from my childhood and others collected throughout the years. I'm not speaking figuratively this time. I do have quite a collection of creatures in my midst, some of which are frowned upon by the squeamish, but they make me feel good. I was never happier than when I was holed up in that living room, alone at last, to watch my scary movie. Monsters make me happy and today is the day when we celebrate them walking around with dead things. How cool is that?
I'm distracted by the light. Every time I look up I have to marvel at the scene. The leaves flying by sideways, the grays; seriously where is the sunlight coming from? It's been a while since I've had nothing to do all day except enjoy Halloween on Halloween. So that's what I'm doing.
