Weatherwise, it's been an incredible week. Bright sunshine everyday. Double digit temperatures. Unfortunately, for much of the week, I haven't felt like spending time outdoors. Today, however, I ventured outside to enjoy the unseasonable weather before it disappears and, much like this crow, spent some time wandering around my backyard. Taking photographs of crows. Sitting on the deck with my faithful cat, Lucky. Reading a newspaper. Without a jacket. In mid-November. It was glorious.
And then I paid a visit to the shed. Resting place of unfinished Halloween projects. And I began to reflect on what hadn't been accomplished this year. Each year, several projects remain unfinished, but this year the one I regret most is the tree. Not having any large trees in front of my house, I had planned to build one. A large outdoor Halloween tree. Not to be confused with my indoor Halloween tree. That one turned out fine. The outdoor tree (or trees, since I had intended to build at least two) was a more ambitious project. Which is likely why it remained unfinished. Barely started, in fact.
In my mind's eye, there were to be two of them. One on either side of the front porch steps. Their dead twisted branches hanging over the heads of trick-or-treaters as they walked up the stairs. In my more optimistic moments, I thought that if the two trees turned out well, I would build several more and line a path up the driveway with them.
In the end, there weren't several trees. There wasn't even one. I procrastinated them out of existence.
But these bright sunshiny November days have me thinking. If these temperatures continue into next week, I may drag the supplies out of the shed and onto the workshop/deck. Maybe I can build one of those trees this year after all. Set it up in front of the house. Perhaps hang a wreath on it. Or an ornament or two. Bring some early Christmas cheer to the neighbourhood.