Soon my family will celebrate our first anniversary in our new home (new, old home, built in 1954). The culture here is different from my old neighborhood. It was very nice there, but I didn't always feel safe walking around at night. Now I do walk without concern, just about every night.
My new neighborhood is small. Its perimeter is about one mile around. I'm familiar with the houses, and have met several homeowners in the community. Usually I'm walking the dog. He is a beautiful animal, a very large puppy that belongs to my daughter. People often comment on him.
One thing I've noticed is that neighbors like to express themselves through decorations in front of their homes. Halloween is a good example. I was astonished to see Halloween-themed decorations going up a few weeks ago. It was not yet October.
Every day there are more decorations. New homes join in the trend and those already adorned keep adding to their displays. I joked to my daughter that it was though there was a virus. The more elaborate scenes seemed to be next to each other.
The picture below shows one of the earliest and to be sure one of the most ostentatious Halloween extravaganzas. The woman is frequently outdoors, fixing motors, fans and connections to keep the extravaganza going. Many of the elements in this spectacle are animated!
Here is another enthusiastic, though less electrified expression of Halloween spirit.
When people run out of porches and lawns to decorate, they turn to their fences.
Am I immune to this virus? No! I love Halloween. I love the fact that we get to join in festivities and express ourselves individually. This year my daughter has taken over decorating the house. It seems my neighbors may have spent a lot of money to achieve their appropriately ghastly results. Skeletons, for example, which decorate many porches, can cost $79.
My daughter spent less than $20 on all our decorations. Included in that cost are lights, but most of these we will use year round, and a few we will repurpose for Christmas. I'm looking forward to seeing what my neighbors do for Christmas!
The photos shown below were all taken in my small neighborhood. I captured some at night, and hope these came out OK. Nighttime is Halloween time :)
The pictures in this blog (below) are intended to be additions to LMAC's LIL Gallery, the LMAC Library of Images. Once a picture is included in the Gallery it goes into the public domain. Anyone on Hive may borrow pictures from the Gallery, and anyone on Hive may contribute to the Gallery.
There are now almost 15,000 pictures in the LMAC library. This is a rich resource for the Hive community, and has grown entirely from community participation.
If you are interested in helping the library grow even larger, instructions for contributing and borrowing may be found at @shaka's blog, here. While you're there you might be inspired to join in our collage contest. The contest was the original impetus for the creation of the library.
I hope you are amused by my Halloween pictures. They were fun to take. I'm sort of looking forward to the holiday itself. There are kids all over the neighborhood and we've bought sacks of candy in case most of them show up at our door. If they don't, we will have a very sweet winter.
Thank you for reading my blog. Hive on!
| A Riotous Halloween | Halloween, Decorations |  |
| Scarecrow Doll | Halloween, Scarecrow, Decoration |  |
| Vampire Family at Night | Halloween, Vampire, Night Picture, Decoration |  |
| Jack-o'-lantern and Monsters | Halloween, Monsters, Night Picture, Jack-o'-lantern |  |
| Zombie and Ghost at Night | Halloween, Zombie, Ghost, Decorations |  |
| Death With Scythe and Black Cat | Halloween, Death, Scythe, Black Cat, Decorations |  |
| Graveyard Scene for Halloween | Halloween, Graveyard, Scene,Gravestones, Decorations |  |
| Ghost and Jack-o'-lantern | Halloween, Ghost, Jack-o'-lantern, Night Picture, Decorations |  |
| Halloween Scene | Halloween, Ghouls, Decorations |  |
| Ghost in the Shrub | Halloween, Ghost, Decoration |  |
| Pumpkin With Sunflower | Halloween, Pumpkin, Sunflower, Decoration |  |
| Scarecrow | Halloween, Scarecrow, Decoration |  |
| Happy Ghost | Halloween, Ghost, Decoration |  |
| Halloween Arrangement | Halloween, Ghost, Pumkins |  |
| Ghost With a Broom | Halloween, Ghost, Decoration |  |
| Baby Ghosts | Halloween, Ghosts, Decorations |  |
| Flying Ghost | Halloween, Ghost, Decoration |  |
| Hanging Skeleton | Hanging Skeleton, Skull, Death, Halloween, Decoration |  |
| Skeleton Rising From the Grave | Halloween, Skeleton, Grave, Decoration |  |
| Tombstone | Halloween, Gravestone, Skeleton Foot, Decorations |  |
| Witch Coven | Halloween, Witch Coven, Decorations |  |
| Hanging Ghoul | Halloween, Ghoul, Decorations |  |
| Flying Ghost | Halloween, Ghost, Decorations |  |
| Pumpkin Collection | Halloween, Pumpkins, Decorations |  |
| Skeleton Pumpkin | Halloween, Pumpkin, Skeleton |  |
| Witches With Brew | Halloween, Witches, Brew, Decorations |  |
| Severed Foot Cutout | Halloween, Bloody Foot, Decorations |  |
| Black Cat Head Cutout | Halloween, Black Cat, Decorations |  |
| Skeleton: Go Away Cutout | Halloween, Funny Skeleton, Decorations |  |
| Skull Cutout | Halloween, Skull, Decorations |  |
| Ghost With Bat Tie Cutout | Halloween, Ghost, Bat, Decorations |  |
| Gravestone Cutout | Halloween, Gravestone, Ghoul, Decorations |  |
| Pumpkin Collection Cutout | Halloween, Pumpkins, Decorations |  |
| Weird Pumpkin Head Cutout | Halloween, Pumpkin Head, Decoration |  |
| Gravestone With Ghost Cutout | Halloween, Gravestone, Ghost, Decorations |  |
| Fierce Pumpkin Cutout | Halloween, Pumpkin, Decorations |  |
| Howling Ghost Cutout | Halloween, Ghost, Decorations |  |
| Flying Ghost Cutout | Halloween, Ghost, Decorations |  |
