This week we usher in the scariest night of the year: All Hallows Eve or, as we have come to know it, Halloween. What is it about this night that changes the very air around us? Mostly it's the old stories, the traditions and festivities that have come down to us from generation after generation.
Have you ever gone out on Halloween night, especially out into nature away from the noise and activity, and just listened? I expect you would find that the sounds and sensations that flow into your experience are no different than any other night. Mother Nature did not change the natural flow of things just for Trick-or-Treaters. The creatures of the night are no more scary on this night than on any other. They just continue to go about their business like reliable employees on the night shift. We are the ones who have made them the stuff of scary stories. The truth of the matter is that nature has equipped the creatures we associate with the night with special sensory equipment in order for them to survive. Animals like bats, who probably have the worst reputation thanks to Dracula, have a special built-in sonar system that they use to find their way around because they do not see well in the daylight. Other creatures of the night either do not do well in the heat of the day, or wait until dark because their food choices consist of other night-time creatures. Owls hunt mostly at night as do foxes and raccoons. Nothing scary about that. It's all just part of the life cycle.
Being an outdoor lover, I have spent many evenings in my life sitting outside or by an open window at night, especially when I lived in the country, and just listened. There is a beauty to the silence of an evening after all the humans have gone to bed, and a tickle of curiosity when one hears a tiny rustle in the leaves, or senses almost silent wings in flight. Even the breeze sounds softer. I've never found it to be scary, not on Halloween night or any other night. I've always found it to be just another of Mother Nature's fascinating creations to explore.
Just so I don't miss out on the Halloween fun, however, I will do what this apartment dweller (no kids want to climb three flights of stairs to knock on doors even for candy) does every Halloween night: pop some popcorn, turn out the lights, and watch old episodes of "Ghost Hunters," my favorite spooky TV show. Then maybe, after all the kids are home in bed, I just might open up that window and give a listen.
And so it is.
