Stormy Thoughts

What a strange night it was watching the storm from a distance through social media (Twitter mostly) as it descended upon the East Coast. Despite severe weather warnings here, we were very lucky. There were thousands in Quebec without power this morning but damage was minor. In our neighbourhood, everything was intact.

I found it odd that we were looking at a beautiful and serene Hunter's Moon while the weather was so ferocious elsewhere. I took this photo this morning. I would have taken more but Meeko somehow got it into his head that the tripod was attacking me and wouldn't stop barking at it. Or at least, I think that was what he was thinking.

Then, he spent a good part of the morning staring out the window. I'm curious what he was thinking about then too (apart from squirrels and maybe the tripod).

I know what I was thinking about last night and this morning. I was thinking how lucky we were not to have been affected by the storm. We were evacuated from our home for 10 days during the Ice Storm of 1998 and we felt the effects long after the storm had faded away. There were good things, as families spent more quiet time together because of not having electricity, and there were bad things, that even children who were in the womb at the time suffered long-term effects from the stress. Emma was three at the time and we stayed in three different homes over the course of 10 days. My heart goes out to those who have been affected and displaced by the storm. It will take a long time to recover from the physical and psychological effects of Sandy. And there's stuff that isn't important in the scale of things but I know that there are little kids sad to be missing school and maybe even trick-or-treating.

I was also thinking about a chihuahua and her owner last night as I knew that little dog who was lost three weeks ago now in Brooklyn would be top of mind for Danielle during the storm.  Little Myrtle is in my thoughts every day.

And I thought about how odd it is and not really right, that we are hit harder sometimes when we know the place that is devastated in a natural disaster. I guess it's because it deals with the familiar. It's not that we don't care about the disasters that occur far, far way. I donate to international disaster relief when and if I can, as I'm sure you do too. It's just harder somehow when we know and identify with the landmarks, the geography and the people.

Meeko perked up a little this afternoon and then resumed his contemplative mood. It was just that kind of day.

Oh So Much Greater At Night!

The Great Pumpkin looks even greater at night! :)  The night owl too!  The third pumpkin is still being carved.  It will be added if it's ready in time.  Happy Halloween!

And here it is:  a vampire's crypt.  Mua ha ha ...

Oh Great Pumpkin

Emma carved two pumpkins yesterday evening while studying for end-of-term tests and completing assignments.  She is spending Halloween at a friend's house.

I like the way her Linus and Great Pumpkin turned out.  She also carved a Halloween owl.  She did both using patterns she found online.

In past years, we have carved some pretty intricate patterns on at least five pumpkins.  This year, we will just have three.  I find that I am losing my enthusiasm for Halloween as the girls grow older, not that it was ever my favourite occasion.  In Quebec, people go all out with Halloween decorations in their front yards.  I did most of my growing up years in Toronto and don't remember much more than a pumpkin outside of most homes.  Here, people create graveyards and elaborate wooden structures.  Lots of time and energy goes into it.

Chloé plans to carve a pumpkin in between when she arrives home from school and when she goes out trick-or-treating.  That's another difference between Toronto and here.  High school students go from door to door just like the little kids.  My rule is if they're polite and have made some effort with a costume (they're not just in street clothes holding a bag), I will give them candy.  We usually give out over 200 bags at our door.

I am working on some other images to put in my Etsy store.  It is slow, painstaking work scanning the paintings and then creating the print version in Photoshop.  I worked for a few hours on one image yesterday and had to redo everything today. It's all part of the learning curve but it can be tiring.

Have a safe and happy Halloween wherever you are.