Happy Haunted Halloween - Part 1

When ghosts and goblins fill the night
With howls and chilling screams,
I'll keep an eye out for the sight
Of monsters from my dreams:

Beware the she-wolf in disguise
With bloody fangs and claws,
In wait for wayward prey she lies
To chomp them in her mighty jaws:

The spotted panther rules the night
And frightens young and old,
He sends the stalwart into flight
His haunting is both sly and bold:

Beware the monsters hiding there
Inside your closet, beneath your bed,
They'll try to fool you with white hair
And haunt you on the night of the dead:

Do not be fooled by ghostly white,
Do not be taken unawares,
On Halloween there's things which bite
As monsters come out from their lairs:

And snarky, ghoulish fireflies
Who try to look all bookish,
Whose hauntings cause such frightened cries
They'll also steal your cookies:
................ (Hey, you try to rhyme something with "bookish")

Don't trust the ranger in his hat
For he's a monster too,
He cannot help it if he's fat
He's only here for haunting you:

The cackling, evil witch has come
To give you quite a scare,
Her bloody fangs will bite your thumb
Don't try to tame her, don't you dare:

Behold the cross-dressing Chinese dog,
Don't think he cannot haunt you too,
He's come to haunt this silly blog
And wears a scary blue tutu:

Along the floor boards creeps the mouse
He frightens young and old,
He's turned your home to haunted house
And now this story is almost told:

Halloween is nearly here
With all its scary things,
Beware the monsters shown above
And the fear their haunting brings:

Martin Dunham Reservoir Hike - Part 6

I was hiking the perimeter of Duham Reservoir with four of my dogs. This nice lake is a little known gem across the highway from the better known, busier parts of Grafton Lakes State Park. We'd hiked southward down the western shore of the lake (see previous posts) and were now hiking back northward on the eastern side. This trail climbed high up into the surrounding hills and deep forests:

I stopped with the dogs for a photo:

The forests were mixed hardwoods and spruce. They were quiet, with the only sounds the wind in the tree tops, our footsteps in the fallen leaves and the dogs' tinkling ID tags:

We came to a small stream:


The spruce stands looked dark and mysterious to me, reminding me of my childhood imaginings of the Black Forest. Even the dogs seemed subdued, though there were many possible explanations for their quieter behavior:

I climbed up onto a rocky outcropping and rested a bit:

The dogs scouted the woods for danger:

And then Seamus came over and sat down for a rest near me:

Daphne and Clover had a bit more exploring to do:

Then Fergus came over to me and relaxed;

Eventually all four dogs calmed themselves and we had a bit of quiet meditation on the beauties of the forest:

A pause by a stream:


But it was soon time to hike on and once again return to the little red car waiting back at the trail head:

The four of us proceeded with great joy through the colorful woodland. Eventually the trail took us back down to the edge of the lake, but by then my camera had run out of memory: