Are you feeling a bit scared as we approach Halloween in a few days? Are you a fan of the season and afraid you might run out of candy for the trick-or-treaters?
Or are you more annoyed with the hoopla surrounding Halloween’s entrapments? Whatever you feel this time of year, let me entertain you with some images and thoughts that might be scary to you…or not.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” ― H.P. Lovecraft
Some Scary Fun
“You ever feel prickly things on the back of your neck?”— Cole Sear, “The Sixth Sense”
Around our back patio lurk various arachnids. You know, spiders. Almost hidden up in the corner of our gazebo is this!
This is a harmless cat-faced spider. She looks more like a smiling jack o’ lantern from this angle. Note that she is about the size of a quarter. And they live about one year.
“Fascination lies in the delicate balance between admiration and fear.” – Marina Abramović
Nearby may be one of her babies. You can see the resemblance to a cat in these images. BOO! 🎃
“Each spider web is a reminder: beauty can arise from a fearful encounter.” – Harold Bloom
Just down the highway…there is a homeowner whose property borders the street. One year, he posed a life-sized skeleton upon a tractor.
Now he leaves it up all year ‘round and dresses it up to fit the season or holiday. I finally managed to grab these shots this year.
Sharing for Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday
How Do You Feel About Heights?
And other scary ideas… like university budget cuts…
“Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Many of you know that I was a university lecturer for 10 years, after retiring from a long career in public parks and recreation management. I taught several courses to undergrads in the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism at Sacramento State University. Some course curricula included leisure motivation and utilized experiential education to help students understand why people participate in recreational activities.
Each semester, I accompanied students to the university’s Peak Adventures Challenge Center’s high ropes course on campus. There were team-building activities on the ground and high elements to participate in. Students could choose whether or not to participate in the high elements. After participating, students wrote a reaction paper on leisure motivation and their feelings about the experience.
In the image below, you see two students climbing portions of the course. The Dive and the Catwalk are situated 50 feet above the ground. Students are carefully instructed by the course staff on how to wear the harnesses and how to access each high element. (I have taken part myself in both of these.)
The above image is shared for Dawn’s Festival of Leaves.
“I don’t have a fear of heights. I do, however, have a fear of falling from heights.” ~ George Carlin
Once you arrive on the platform, you unhook your harness from the climbing rope and attach it to the other line where a staff member is belaying you. To me, that was scary… Then, hooked safely in, you jump to the trapeze dangling a mere 10 feet from the platform.
Let’s take a look at the students as they experience a variety of emotions.
I discovered this series of images of a young woman as she navigated the challenge course. Her range of emotions was clearly evident. A staff member explains the element in the first image. She successfully crossed the Multi-Line, then climbed the Catwalk. Again, all students are wearing harnesses.
“I’m not afraid of heights. I rock climb. I can repel off the side of a building.” ~ Kate Hudson
I enjoyed every moment of teaching at the university from 2011 to 2020. I recently learned that Sacramento State University closed the stand-alone Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism in August 2025. The university has had a long-standing history of students graduating from majors in Outdoor Recreation, Park and Recreation Management, and Hospitality and Tourism since the mid-1950s. I was proud to graduate from this program in 1983, and again with my master’s degree obtained in 2010. As a dedicated recreational and parks professional, I enjoyed a long and satisfying career from 1980 to 2015.
Budget cuts at all levels in collegiate education have hampered many departments. The three major concentrations were relocated to other departments in the university. I fear for the future of young people’s continued interest in recreation and parks management. There was a sense of unity within the department. Sad to see it go.
“Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all.” ~ Yvon Chouinard
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link to a recent one.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- 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 to the comments.
If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Join me next week as we begin the month of November with the theme Hooves and Claws.
The November themes are ready to view on my Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Page. This page is updated monthly.
” ‘Will you walk into my parlour?’ said a spider to a fly.” ~ Mary Howitt
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Thanks for the spooky post!
Second Wind Leisure Perspectives 
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