The last flicker of fall

Last week was quite busy for me! I enjoyed soaking up the colors of Autumn during a trip to Cedarburg, WI. Every year, my mom and I head to this old town to see the beautiful scenery and do a little shopping. Usually, some after-Halloween deals await us there.

These wild grapes were growing on the side of a building. Many of the shops in this town are operated in Victorian houses. I go wild about this style of architecture, and I know some of you do too!

OK, Raise your hand if you want to move into this place. It's just beautiful. A lot of Halloween merchandise was moved onto the porch of this shop:

I like the Welcome to the Nuthouse sign.

Check out the Victorian gingerbread details going on here! I'm going crazy trying to remember what the metal details on the roof are called. If someone out there knows, please help me out. I've even added that feature to my own haunted house paintings! So I need to know the name of it.

One Victorian house shop had an old shed out back. The Halloween merchandise had been moved into it. The door was guarded by this skeleton torso.

The shed was actually kind of dark and spooky to enter...

The small amount of light that was cast into the room sparkled off this glittery skull.

We did find this dapper little crow in the old shed, so it was worth looking around!

He is carrying a cute little jack-o-lantern in his wing:

The streets of downtown Cedarburg were filled jack-o-lanterns. I wonder if there had been a pumpkin carving contest in town. I was especially impressed by this gargoyle carving. It looks like it was done with a linoleum cutter.

Here's a goofy one. I think his tongue was made from the pumpkin that was cut out to make his mouth:

I took some photos of pumpkin creatures during last year's Cedarburg trip. Since some of you weren't following me back then, you might want to take a look: Cedarburg Pumpkin Creatures

The sun was setting as we got ready to leave. A beautiful golden glow was cast onto every building. I captured a little of that glow on some stone work at the end of a bridge. The leaves growing around the stonework turned an intense crimson in the light.

This vine of leaves resembled a reaching hand. Look at the variation in color!

Cedarburg really is a picturesque place to visit. It was recognized as a town in 1840, and is rumored to be full of ghosts. Someone I know has had a lot of ghostly experiences there. This might be because she happens to work in an office that is a former funeral home. I know that October ghost tours are offered throughout the town. Whether or not there are any ghosts, it would be fun to view Cedarburg's architecture on an Autumn night!

Mom's Birthday celebrations continued with a Paul Simon concert last Friday. I was lucky enough to win tickets to the show by calling into a radio station. That was an exciting moment. The concert was a few days after my Mom's Birthday, so it was another way of celebrating. It was also cool for me because I've been a fan of Paul Simon's music since I was in grade school. I had a music teacher who was really into his work. Through grade school we listened to his music and watched videos of his concerts. So I'm really up on his catalog of music! Also, I'm a fan of The Graduate soundtrack. Speaking of The Graduate, this is as close to Goth as Paul Simon gets! Really, silence can be one of the most frightening things in the world. Here's The Sound of Silence, complete with the beautiful and thought provoking lyrics:

Every time I hear this song, I think of an English teacher I had in high school. He was kind of an eccentric guy. I remember one day he walked in the room and said in all seriousness "Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to talk with you again." Then he just went and sat at his desk. I don't know if he was having a bad day, or just wanted our attention.

The concert was very casual and intimate. Paul Simon is so incredibly humble. He just walked out like a normal guy and put on a great show. I also think he has a sense of humor, because Frank Sinatra's cover of Mrs. Robinson was playing on the speakers as we left the theater.

Paul Simon's opening act was the Punch Brothers, who I ended up loving! I wasn't familiar with them before this. They play lively Bluegrass music. I'm not even going to try to tie this band to a spooky topic. They just play good music, so I want to share it with everyone!



This is pretty much the experience we had, minus Steve Martin. This video is from their performance on Letterman. I would love to see the Punch Brothers in concert, if they ever visit Milwaukee again. I just love when an opening act I've never heard of, turns into a new favorite band!