songbird's crazy world

         

 Tomorrow is Halloween.  So today’s theme … Scary Band Names or songs relating nightly creatures ie owls, wolves, ….                 And because it’s Halloween …   

 So there’s a park behind our house.  There are some very tall pine trees in the park, all along our back fence.   The pine trees are dropping needles and cones all over my back yard and patio.  The cones aren’t a problem … but I’m getting tired of sweeping pibe needles off my kitchen floor.  Every time I open the front door, more needles … those trees are huge!

 Our favorite Mexican restaurant is decorated as if every day were el Día de los Muertos. You know, the Mexican holiday that falls on November 1, the holiday that honors deceased ancestors. If you’re unfamiliar with the holiday, you can read about it  here . Two movie recommendations. The first is a recent Disney movie.  I am sure you’ve heard of it. Coco (2017) Despite his family's generations-old ban on music, young Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead. After meeting a charming trickster named Héctor, the two ne w friends embark on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.    But before there was Coco there was another movie with a similar theme. The Book of Life (2014) In the Mexican town of San Angel, Manolo (Diego Luna), Maria (Zoë Saldana) and Joaquin (Channing Tatum) have ...

 Yeah, the moon is full …just three days before Halloween. Despite all the “full moon” decorations for the holiday, the full moon falls on Halloween just once every 19 years.  The last time was 2020, the next time will be 2039. I had high hopes for Halloween 2020, the holiday fell on a Saturday, and with the full moon …sigh…we had real-life horror that year … So tonight is the full moon … and we can enjoy it …

  Spooky Scary Skeletons Welcome to  Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Spooky Scary Skeletons (1996) Unfamiliar with this week's featured song? Hear it  here .   1) In this song, Andrew Gold sings that these skeletons send shivers down his spine. Do you often involuntarily shudder or shiver? No.     2) While they appear frightening, these skeletons are harmless and only want to socialize with us mortals. Can you think of something -- or someone -- that intimidated you at first but that you were more comfortable with as you became more familiar? I’ll ...

 Scenes from the living room    Same room, no hissing or growling.  Sitting quietly.  Detente?

 Views of the Hudson River in Tarrytown, NY #skywatchfriday

 Ever hear of  MrBallen ? He started out as a YouTube content creator, but recently Amazon picked up his podcasts, and his studio is becoming much more professional.  I’m more inclined to watch the videos than to listen to the podcasts, but both are wonderful. He tells stories. He tells stories that are strange, dark and mysterious. Sometimes his stories involve unexplained circumstances, even supernatural or possibly extraterrestrial situations.  But sometimes the stories are about weird but explainable events. If you like a good scare, if you want to feel uncomfortable, if you like waking up screaming from a nightmare … check out MrBallen.

 According to the fall foliage map, Long Island is in the “just changing” to “midpoint” range.  You wouldn’t know it from the tree in my front yard. This photo was taken over a week ago. But some of the trees around here are still green, so … Meanwhile the evergreens … the pine trees behind my house are dropping pine cones like crazy.  The yard and patio are covered in pine cones. I hear color is peaking north and west of New York City.  We should peak in early November. Daylight hours are waning.  It gets dark way too soon. And after we turn the clocks back, it will be dark by 5 PM. I’ve heard many predictions about our winter weather.  Words like “polar vortex” and “el niño” get bandied about.  We didn’t get much snow last year, will we have a snowy winter this year? I’ve got a warm winter coat and boots.  I’m ready. Are you?

I read an interesting article:  Most Popular Halloween Candy The author identifies each state’s favorite Halloween candy. According to the article, my home stare, New York, loves Sour Patch Kids. Hmm, not my favorite… If I say I prefer Reese’s peanut butter cups, do I have to move?  Though I hear New Hampshire is nice this time of year … What’s your favorite?

 So on Sunday we went to  Lyndhurst Mansion . Lyndhurst is a beautiful Gothic mansion, built in the 1840’s. It is located in Tarrytown, New York, on the bank of the Hudson River.It was originally owned by NYC mayor William Paulding Jr., then by merchant George Merritt, and then by railroad tycoon Jay Gould . When Jay’s daughter Anna Gould died in 1961she donated the house to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Lyndhurst is not far from  Washington Irving’s Sunnyside . Irving, you will recall, was a noted author, most famous for Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.   You can visit  Sleepy Hollow Cemetery  in Tarrytown. In other words, Lyndhurst is a site in a region rich with history. The kind of place that Drew and I love to visit.   And because of its spooky history (you can truly imagine the Headless Horseman riding through Tarrytown) the region really enjoys its Halloween activities,  Even Lyndhurst has special Halloween de...