Now that my children are grown and gone, I really don’t celebrate the day much except for a few mild decorations, which I shared last week.
Since Sunday Stills landed on Halloween today, I was inspired for this week’s theme, “Eerie,” by the Google Chrome theme “Eerie Autumn” which cycles wallpaper images to my desktop. Creepy spiderwebs, misty moons, and decrepit graveyards adorn my desktop as a reminder that Halloween is in the eye of the beholder.
The definition of Eerie is: “Uncanny, so as to inspire superstitious fear; weird: an eerie midnight howl. (esp of places, an atmosphere, etc) mysteriously or uncannily frightening or disturbing; weird; ghostly”
Merriam Webster Dictionary
As I was capturing decor images last week, I got this eerie one on my porch.
Do you get many trick-or-treaters where you live? In my former Sacramento neighborhood, despite being around the corner from the elementary school, we rarely got visitors on Halloween. This coincided with 9-11 in 2001, and it’s been crickets ever since. As I write this I’m wondering if we will get any on our new street, which still does not show up on some folks’ google maps! There are only two occupied homes, and unless parents drive their kids (golf carts and ATVs are a popular way to zip around here), I doubt we will see many kids out on our street. Oh well, more candy for me!
Eerie Editing
Back to our theme, what makes an image “eerie?” With our sunny days and cold nights, we’ve had lots of ground fog which makes for an eerie photo.
“At night the fog was thick and full of light, and sometimes voices.”
Erin Bow, Plain Kate
Another way to invoke “eerie” is to shoot or edit in black and white. I took the original image, then edited it to black and white, and added some other effects.
A visit to Apple Hill near Sacramento in 2019 on the actual Halloween day gave us inspiration for some wine-tasting using this creepy gargoyle aerator!
If you use your imagination, perhaps with a twist of the screen, you’ll find mythical beasts in the reflections.
Eerie Sounds
Speaking of eerie. Recently, in our backyard with my dog Aero about 1:30am, I heard what I thought was a coyote howling. I’m terrified my little 13-pound dog will be attacked by coyotes (it has happened to neighbors’ dogs!). So I am vigilant when we go out to do his business. I waited for the yip-yip to accompany the spine-chilling “howl” but heard nothing except another howl, this time with undertones of a whistle and roar. Sufficiently nervous, we went in quickly and I thought no more about it until I read another blogger’s post (Donna from Wind Kisses) which described the mating call of the bull elk during the Autumn mating season as a “bugle.” It was then I realized I had heard an elk’s mating call. That close to my backyard?? As the video suggests, I imagined Tolkein’s ringwraiths calling to me! Eerriieee!
Eerie Aurora
I’ve been dying to share this image on my blog. Many of you might have already seen it on Instagram and Facebook. I follow a Facebook group called Nine Mile Aurora Chasers and I read a post that mentioned weather conditions were perfect for the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, to be seen in Spokane, Washington area. Yes, please.
To my naked eye, the aurora looked merely like a grey, misty cloud on the horizon. Had I not been tipped off by Google and the Facebook group, I would have missed it. When I imagine the northern lights, I expect to see eerie green and blue ripples of light dancing above my head. I’ve since learned you must be much further north to see them in that fashion.
The northern lights usually occur between 60 and 75 degrees of latitude, which covers northern parts of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Alaska and Russia as well as all of Iceland.
Discover the World
I used my Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ to photograph the horizon to the northeast from my house using night mode. When I saw what my lens saw, I jumped for joy. Using a little ambient light from the neighbors’ lights helped more than hindered.
The Aurora is created when the energy from a solar flare emitted by our sun hits earth. One such flare hit earth Monday night, creating a rare spectacle that could be seen across much of the norther tier of the United States. The aurora was visible across the Inland Northwest thanks to clear skies overhead and relatively early nightfall this time of year.
KREM 2 News
A rare and joyful, if slightly eerie experience, indeed.
An Past Eerie Gallery
Creepy Clouds 
Eerie River Fog 
Two-headed hummingbird 
Ghostly cruise ship on HIlo Bay 
After the Eclipse 
Swimming with Whale Sharks in Baja 
Night Art in Lake Tahoe 
Balboa Park Arboretum 
Crazy clouds along Route 66 near Victorville CA 
The tree trolls are watching!
“Sharp winds ruffled his coat and caused bare tree limbs to bend and rustle, throwing eerie shadows on the ground.”
Mateo’s Law
Do you know what else is eerie? According to WordPress:
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 10 years ago.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.
Photo Challenges this Week
- Marsha’s WQW Spooky
- Dawn’s Festival of Leaves
- Jude’s Life in Color: Orange
- Cee’s Flower of the Day
- Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday
- Becky B’s Past Squares
- Lens-Artists: A Day in My Week
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post. I also recommend adding your post’s URL into the comments.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Use hashtag #SundayStills for sharing on social media.
Decorative Bloggers’ Links
Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are the last week’s links from bloggers who shared their favorite seasonal decoration photos. If at any point I have accidentally left anyone off the list, please let me know!
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Easin’ Along (Image shared in comments)
Equipoise Life (Image shared in comments)
Hugh’s Views and News (Image shared in Comments)
Retirement Reflections (Image posted on Instagram)
November’s themes are ready for your viewing pleasure on my Sunday Stills Photography Page. Next Sunday the theme is “Fur and Feathers.”
I look forward to your eerie posts all week!
© 2021 Copyright — secondwindleisure.com — All Rights Reserved
Second Wind Leisure Perspectives 
What is YOUR perspective? Please include your name if WP identifies you as “anonymous.