Autumn Transitions: From Haunted House to Seasonal Charm

VFJ Pilates | Musings

Seasons change, and it is time to swap the macabre for nature: creepy crawlies for fallen leaves and bright colours for muted. 

Yesterday was a flurry of activity as I de-ghoulified the house. I removed tinsel and glitter, green and purple and pulled gravestones up. I took bats down from the ceiling and enthusiastically and painstakingly detangled spiders from their webs. I carried boxes to and fro, brought down the empty and the full.

My pumpkin patch has been thinned out, it now has room for acorns, horse chestnuts and berries. It is all golden and rustic charm, not a toothy grin or vampire in sight.

But today feels different. What was easy and even joyful yesterday seems too much to continue today. The empty house presses in on me, the quiet and darkness not as comforting as they usually are. The air feels heavy and I don't seem to be able to breathe easily.

The pumpkins sneer at me from the kitchen worktop, all sat neatly in rows waiting to be wrapped and packed. Skeletons and ravens are folded neatly on the breakfast bar waiting to be slotted down the sides. Spiders are web-free and grouped by size next to the sink. All items are sorted by theme, room and colour. Boxes are open and ready to be filled. Gavmin is asleep in his bag, legs all folded up tight and neat.

Autumn has arrived, and is laid carefully at the door, waiting silently and a little judgingly. Lights now glow a honey yellow instead of pumpkin orange, warming the space. I even hoovered the entire house and cleaned the mess that removing a season always seems to make.

The hard work has been done. Everything is ready...I have a clean slate and an empty porch...

So why can I not start? Why have I avoided the kitchen today? Stepped over mushrooms and ivy to reach the door?

This is the last time Hallowe’en will visit this house for us in this way, perhaps even at all, as it is my holiday and not others’ cup of tea. Next year it will happen in a new home and it may have to be rushed. Before then, it will be stored elsewhere. It not only needs to be safe and secure but also packed in a way that means I can access it quickly and efficiently. I want to avoid spending days trying to find the mini glow-in-the-dark ghosties that like to hide around the house for a little skeleton to find.

Maybe that is why I have stalled, why the thought of touching a witch or cauldron feels too much and the idea of planning what goes where seems an impossible task.

I do not know where we will be next year. I do not know what this holiday will look like. I do not even know if we will manage our traditional ghostly family lunch.

I hope so desperately to make the transition as easy as I can for myself and my little tricksters. My aim is to keep things as normal and familiar as possible. My deadline next year is so close to Hallowe’en, and there may be other tasks that take a higher priority and need my focus. I fear what I want may not be possible.

I have a phone call booked later with my favourite Love. She has a pile of ironing and I have my piles of spookiness and burnt umber. Maybe, if we try, we can distract each other enough to work through our tasks together without too many issues.

I just hope other occasions and other celebrations will not be as hard. I will have time for those; we should be settled; we will not need to be in a hurry to decide where the tree will go, where the Easter bunnies will hang, and where birthday presents will appear. Otherwise, this year ahead is going to be long and difficult.

For now, I will let the house breathe and the coolness settle. Soon, the boxes will be filled, the rats and skulls tucked away and the autumn calm will commence.

— Victoria

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