It’s a dark and stormy day. The wind shrieks, rain lashes against the window panes, and gloom overcomes the land. But later, as murky dusk gives way to the sooty darkness, the empty streets will become busy with ghouls, goblins, and ghosts. It’s Halloween! Trick or treat!

 
I’ve been doing a lot of nighttime photography lately, experimenting with new techniques and perfecting those I already know, and the spookiness of this day seems a good time to explore darkness. Besides, it’s fun to see the world with a new perspective, when most of the surroundings are dark and the only sources of brightness are a streetlight, a flashlight, or the taillights of a passing car. Here’s what it looked like last night as the gales blew leaves and rain down the street:

 
The streetlight made the raindrops on the wires sparkle.

 
Tonight won’t be much different, except kids in costumes will be carrying their bags from door to door, ghosting through the darkness with their light sticks. Light painting with light sticks is a favorite diversion for campers and other creatures of the night, and I tried my hand at it with a Mini-Maglite. My attempt to draw a bicycle wasn’t a great success, though it might pass as a form of modern art:

 
My drawing of a pumpkin on the window with the streetlight in the background was a little better:

 
The thing is, once I began studying the effect of bright lights in the dark, I started to see all manner of ordinary objects in a new, ahem, light, like my computer’s power cord, for instance:

 
Then there’s my little camping lantern:

 
The camera makes the white light cool blue. In keeping with the creepy nature of today, I took this photo of a spider next to the bog’s nightlight:

 
She’s quite happy hanging around waiting for someone to come by for dinner. Yes, she is a she. I can tell by her pedipalps. Wait! What’s that? A ghoul screaming in the dark?

 
Maybe I should crawl under the covers and read by the light of my headlamp until morning dawns. I’m at the part about Deadman’s Valley now…

 
Yes, I think that’s the thing to do. See you in November…

 
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October is a very busy time for woodland critters, and I dare say chipmunks are among the busiest. With five to six months of torpor ahead, and a lean late winter and early spring to plan for, chipmunks diligently gather food that is carried back to their burrows for storage. They’re not beyond partaking of a free lunch, either—efficiency is the name of the game, after all. This grizzled chipmunk has just returned from emptying her bulging cheeks into her pantry, and found something that wasn’t there before. She’s wary, but perhaps she’s also wondering if it’s good to eat and will fit down her tunnel.

 
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Tuesday was gusty, threatening rain showers, but with a hint of warmth in the air. After some days of downright frosty weather, the south wind was welcome, and with occasional glimpses of the sun, it was a good morning for a hike. Leaves have passed peak color, maples have shed most of their burden, but beech and oaks still hang tight to their coppery or russet leaves. The River’s trail rustles with each footfall, competing with the sibilant hiss and throaty grumbles from the rapids and swiftwater reaches. Naturally I couldn’t resist shooting plenty of photos for the archives, and after a couple hours I was on the return leg of my loop route. As I strolled down the access road leading to the trailhead with the sun in my face, I noticed ladybugs swarming together wherever a patch of sun fell. I’d never given ladybugs a lot of thought before, though I know they are welcomed by gardeners and farmers because they are voracious eaters of aphids, which chew up crops. I stopped to watch the ladybugs and assumed they were grouping together for a mass die-off once the temperature dropped again. I’d been seeing them on the concrete south stoop in the mornings, desiccated and upside down, after all.

I stopped alongside a footer at the footbridge and studied the ladybugs. They are very beautiful insects, and have a variety of patterns and colors on their wind covers. They moved around fairly quickly for such a tiny beetle, motoring along in their quest for… what, exactly? Warmth, probably.

 
Here you can see the wing covers splaying apart slightly as this ladybug prepares to take flight:

 
They were determined to climb the footer, and had no trouble clinging to the chipped paint:

 
Curled paint and rust didn’t deter them, either:

 
Here you can see the hooks on the ends of their legs:

 
When I got back home I did a bit of research on ladybugs, and was surprised to learn they overwinter as adults, even in this harsh climate. They gather together in sheltered places on the south sides of trees, rock outcrops, and structures where they enter diapause, a kind of hibernation. Come spring, they’ll become animated again and fly off to lay eggs and eat aphids. Clever critters.

 
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