The swimming pool was closed last Sunday afternoon. Without thinking that this could be because of the recent floods and inclement meteorological phenomenons, I sent an email to the Chairman of our residents association. He responded as the 'little grey cells' started to come to life! I am not as au fait with the local rules as well be I should, but it appears too much rain is as bad as too little, and a 'rationing' effect comes into play. However, I digress. The bottom line was that I could not test the water to see if it was warm enough to swim! This coupled with the fact that my oven was on minimum work load, did not a happy me make!
Temperatures started to even out. Monday was the twenty ninth day of October, and the fervour for the 'main event' on the 31st was escalating to fever pitch. One day is not enough! There had been many parties held the previous weekends. I do find it a little ironic when people tell me they went to the local church for a Halloween party, but each to their own! However, as the day neared, so did the intensity. "Happy Halloween", would come the shout as I passed someone in the street. "Not yet!" I would respond. I could see no reason to celebrate for a whole month unless you are a butterfly, and your lifespan is only three to six weeks! Although the weather has been fairly erratic, the wildlife appears to have survived. Blue skies, when they are blue, are full of birds, especially those of prey and the autumnal comfort has finally hit our city. "I love these temperatures" can be heard in between the shouts of "Happy Halloween!" Butterflies appear to like this time of year, with one species in particular invading Texas on its way through to Mexico. A kaleidoscope of Monarchs make their way down from Canada, and like all that enjoy life, stop off in Austin for a for a few days to enjoy the diversity! Apparently, their life span is more than most and they can survive for a year! Without feeling the need to wear anything but their natural beauty, they swarmed in for the end of October fun fest!
Dana and I are not participants of the frivolities. We object not to those who wish to take part, but prefer to 'sit this one out'! However, those around us are not always aware of our preferences, to wit the lady at the restaurant on Monday evening. My day had started out of routine. Samantha was suffering from what could only be described as 'migraine' symptoms, and had said she would be late to work. She had hoped she could 'sleep it off'. Driving myself to work was not inconvenient but, as a creature of habit, I had failed to prepare for dinner. Arriving mid-morning, my daughter had expressed an unwillingness to walk at lunchtime, but when she heard that I had planned to take my car home and walk back to the office, she had decided that I should not do that alone, following the escapade that had taken place the last time I partook in this adventure. Even when coming back into the house did I forget to take anything out of the freezer for dinner! In fact, the freezer had been the primary subject for returning home at lunchtime. Like the flutter of a butterfly, the light had gone out and the freezer appeared to have died. I jiggled the switch to no avail. I wondered if this had anything to do with a critter I had found lurking near the appliance a couple of days previously, one with whom I had a major difference of opinion. It (and I cal it an 'it' as I do not know how to check for gender) thought it should live, and I did not! Perhaps I had the unfair advantage of a 'bug spray', but then it had the unfair advantage of being able to move much quicker and in a dozen different directions in a matter of a second. With much calculation and patience, I had won the battle, but it was by the freezer, and I wondered if the events had somehow affected the machine. Once home at lunchtime, I checked the plugs, went round to the fuse box and checked them all. I then plugged the appliance into another socket, and the fluttering began again. Samantha and I walked up the hill, through the woods and emerged into the neighbourhood above my complex. We made it back to the office without incident! I continued to work through the afternoon and well into the evening. We had, once again, finished work rather later than we had hoped, and rather than come home and find something to defrost, we chose to take advantage of one of the many restaurants around our area.
"Wow, great costumes. Are you in costume? Is that how you dress? I like that. It's really cool to dress up. I mean in your normal clothes. I like the style!" This was all said, quickly, presumably taking cues from our facial expressions. Dana and I were both wearing 'fedoras', mine a brown leather variety, and his brown/grey felt. I was wearing brown trousers and top, with a mustard jacket, and he had on brown trousers and a shirt. Typical attire for me, perhaps a little more fancy for him, but definitely not something that would be on a Halloween rack, or at least not to my knowledge. After the first sentence, our faces must have given away the fact that we were 'normally' dressed. Embarrassment (and she did appear to be embarrassed) caused the quick succession of understated compliments! I did try to put her at ease, but I think my first look of shock was what remained with her.
Dinner was pleasant and we returned home and enjoyed a cup of tea!
"Have you come in fancy dress?" asked Samantha, to Dana as she noticed something amiss in his clothing. "I thought perhaps you were making a statement", she said. I was sent home to bring back a pair of trousers that did not have rip in them. It was all rather amusing, to all but my husband, who had not noticed that one of his favourite pairs of pants had been torn, or worn away. After a short lunchtime walk, I once again had to travel out and went to the post office. In my peripheral vision I could see fluttering wings, but each time I stopped to looked around, there was nothing. "Wow, you look good!" said Vicky, my pal at the post office. I thanked her and told her of my experience the previous evening. "Sure you should have told her. I am dressed up rich, as I look so good!" I thanked her again for the compliment!
Wearing a different outfit, but the same hat, I ventured out on 31st December, across the river and over to Joe. No one was in fancy dress, or perhaps everyone was in fancy dress. This is Austin, and there are no rules! I didn't plan to stay long but got into a very lengthy discussion with the master roaster, and did not leave until nearly nine! I had planned to go to the bank, and post office but by the time I crossed back to the north side of town, it seemed prudent to go straight to the office. Samantha greeted me in her skeleton outfit. She partakes in everything. I made a lunchtime trip to the post office, by car, rather than walking.
"Why is that lady wearing that hat?" asked a young girl who was sitting with her mother, waiting for a passport appointment. "Maybe to keep her head warm", said her mother, who was smiling at me. "No!" said the child, quite adamantly. "She is dressed up as a cowgirl. Are you a cowgirl?" she asked me, much to her mother's embarrassment. I was going to point my fingers and say, "pow, pow", but decided this may be inappropriate in this particular climate! My daughter had decided not to wear her costume out of the office!
From the post office, we went to Costco, filled up my car with petrol and came back to the office with hot dogs and pizza. A true Halloween feast! Along with lunch I had a fist full of candy as it is tradition to give as much away as one can cart! Plenty of treats; thankfully no tricks. Unless of course I was tricking people into believing I was in fancy dress!
You know when you are in Austin when......! This particular day, the answer was, "When the illuminated signs on the highway say, 'Hocus Pocus, drive with Focus'!"
It rained fiercely on Wednesday night, and it would have been prudent for any butterfly to take cover, lest their fragile wings get too wet to fly, or worst still stick to each other. Far from being an entomologist, I am still fascinated by the winged beings that have been fluttering by so stealthily.
A walk on Thursday took us on a different route to normal. It was a balmy day, and the rain appeared to have gone for a while. The previous night had been a little bit of a wash out! Samantha had outdone herself, once again, and had bags of goodies ready for any child who approached her door. One such child had been less than gracious. He appeared to have been driven around in his parents' car, and had been deposited at various houses. He grunted when she opened the door, was wearing a less than convincing costume, (which of course is not compulsory, unless you are going to Macaroni Grill or the post office!) and grunted again when she gave him the seasonal felicitation. When she told me of this particular visitor, she had suggested that perhaps she should have called him back and insisted, "Let's try this again, and this time, do it properly!" With the rain pelting down, she received fewer callers than expected, and was left with several bags. However, Thursday was a beautiful day. We walked and walked, and as we rounded the corner of one neighbourhood we spotted a small bouncy castle. "I am so going to bounce on that!", she said, in modern day talk. "I am so going to bounce as well!" I responded. "No one's at home. Let's go!" she said, jokingly. At that, a man in a truck rounded the corner from the other direction, drove into the driveway and alighted from his vehicle. "Hey, how's it going", he said to us, most enthusiastically. We responded that we were doing well, and then almost in unison, commented, "He so would have let us bounce on the castle!" Wearing blue on Friday dictated the brown leather fedora be worn, and I was not going to be put off by the previous suggestions of my wearing fancy dress! Perhaps, as it was now the second day of the penultimate month of the year, all associations with the previous month's festival would be forgotten. Instead, I could enjoy a nice, warm, breezy day and just be accepted as the lady who likes to dress differently! Returning from our walk, however, we were stopped. "Careful of the attacking monarchs!" Expecting to see a bunch of royalty running around with swords, I wondered if the festivities had really run their course! I laughed as if I knew as to what those shouting were referring and continued to walk. The butterflies swarmed over, around and past me. They were everywhere. It was the most amazing sight. A little while later I went to collect the post from our box. As I walked, they flew, as I stopped, they stopped. I walked two steps and they fluttered; I stood still, and so did they! It took me about fifteen minutes to complete the task for which I had come out of the office to do, and I enjoyed every second. Dana watched me from the window and wondered what the problem was! I could have had so much fun with puns. "I have come as the all the Kings and Queens", I could have said. Surrounded by these beautiful winged creatures, "A kaleidoscope of Monarchs!" Oh what fun I could have had! Alas, I got to witness, and take part in the episode two days after the finale of the festivities! However, it is a thought for next year!
Saturday was dry and warm, but very windy. I drove to Samantha's house and we went to Walmart to seize all the 'dressing up' costumes we thought Ollie might like. As we entered the store, an employee informed us that the prices had been drastically reduced as they were needing the space for the next seasonal extravaganza. To put it crudely, Samantha commented, "Christmas has thrown up everywhere!" and in her defense, it had! It was impossible to walk down an aisle and not be attacked by a Yuletide greeting or figure. Goodbye Frankenstein's monster, darkness and gruesomeness; hello angels, glory and light! We managed to get our bargains before the masses entered and went on our way to the warehouses, where macabre had given way to tinsel! I checked out the dimensions of the oven, again, and after a couple of hours returned for a last 'clear up' before Samantha's father arrives at her house for a visit early next week.
The clocks went back on Sunday morning, and the sun was shining when we went for our walk up to the top of the hill. The butterflies appeared to have had enough of Austin, and were probably making their way down south. The buzzards were out in force, and many small birds were hopping from tree to tree. Something must have given up the ghost (no pun intended!) or was just about to!
With Halloween month over for another year, we march full steam ahead into what I used to call winter, and look forward to some seasonal weather. It shall hit 80 tomorrow. Very wintery indeed!
The 'butterfly sightings' this time of year grow less and less on the 'Austin butterfly sighting chart', (Oh yes, there is one!) and I am so excited that I got to take part in this year's migration. Well at least I felt as if I took part! My coats are still firmly shut away in cupboards, hopefully moth free, and I am still wearing flip flops. November is always an enigma! Perhaps something else with fly in, and circle like the elusive butterflies that I did not see this week, and I shall write about that episode in ........... another story!
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