Spirits, Shadows, and October Nights

Let’s wrap up this final week of October.
I’ll miss it when it’s gone.
October always carries a hint of melancholy.
Still, I’m in no rush for it to be over.

In my mind, November starts winter.
The older I get, the more I dread those cold, dark months leading up to spring.

Badger had her weekly appointment.
She hasn't been going as often because things haven't been lining up.

She and Cowboy were gone for about an hour.
It was just me and the critters.
Heron is at his girlfriend's.
I've gotten so used to the house being full of noise and people that it's a bit creepy to be all alone.

I've lived here since 1997, and the house has always had a strange vibe.
Raven's room, especially, gives me chills, and Badger's room makes me uneasy, too.

October feels like opening a door, and everything starts to get a little stranger around here.
Weird things happen from October to April, disappear during spring and summer, and then reappear in October.

I learned that I can't put up religious pictures or crosses.
We tried that when we first moved here.
You'd almost glue them to the wall, and in the dead of night, you'd hear a crash followed by the tinkling of glass.
You'd head to wherever they were, only to find them facedown on the floor, with the glass shattered out of the frame.

Badger has been working on her bedroom some more.
I'm starting to think it might have helped if she could have moved everything into the living room and Raven's room, leaving her with an almost empty bedroom and a clean slate.
She could have tackled a box at a time, organizing everything and putting it where it belonged.
Of course, there's no room to do that, so she's had to pile everything on one side of the room while she works on the other.

Badger bought a 20-pound box of Legos from the Goodwill site.
They came today, and she's been trying to organize those, too.
I think I may have come out a winner.
She keeps pulling succulent sets out.
Those sets aren't cheap, and the box has paid for itself with those alone.

We got Cowboy off to work and settled down in the living room to watch TV.
I went into the kitchen for something.
The ceiling fan light and a lamp were on, so the kitchen was well lit.
I stepped up to the sink, looked toward the microwave, and there was a black cat's face staring at me, as if a cat were hiding behind it and peering up from the corner.
It freaked me to heck out.
Okay, it could've been pareidolia.
My vision isn't all that great these days.
But maybe Spook, Salem, Binx, or Annie paid a quick visit.
I used to see Teresa as clear as day sitting on the sink after he died.

So, a giant box of Legos and a visit from one of my little fur babies.
That's how we'll end tonight.