Seasonal Reading

I'm reading The Ghost Variations, by Kevin Brockmeier, perfect for the season. They're ghost stories in a way, but mainly a kind of speculative fiction--philosophical, psychological, addressing the space-time continuum as something ghosts as well as living humans have to contend with. And might have the power to change. Or not.

Meanwhile, I have decorated my house with dishes of candy everywhere and Halloween doo-dads going up the stairs, getting ready for an October visit from the kids (who will be working remotely from my home; I love their jobs!).

Chalkboard poems continue. Yesterday I saw this on my way to the homecoming parade:

The heron standing
quietly in Sugar Creek

turns to watch the dog
crossing the bridge.

I was crossing another bridge, the one the street and sidewalk take over the creek, and it was a wonderful parallel moment, perhaps like something to be found in The Ghost Variations, the heron as still as a vision until it moved, very, very interested in the dog! This is the same creek and crossing where I saw a Siamese cat in the grass and a fox in the playground. I love my path to and from town!

Just finished Magic Lessons, by Alice Hoffman, my book club book, and returned it to the libary. It is the "prequel" to the famous Practical Magic, which precedes her book just out now. Must get caught up. Magic Lessons takes us back to Salem, Massachusetts, tying in the notorious witch trials and other bits of history. 

Also getting in the mood with spooky movies lying around the house: Donnie Darko, with a time loop of the sort 1) I get lost in and 2) that's like a "ghost variation," and Ghost Town, with Ricky Gervais, which is like The Sixth Sense as a heartwarming comedy.