Diva Challenge #339: Hallow/autumn

"Get into the holiday spirit," says the Diva. Chez Sparrow, we had two "holidays" to celebrate: Halloween and our 20th wedding anniversary the day after. Our Halloween was a bit subdued, as Lar was working in the evening. But it quickly picked up in excitement when I drove to the university to retrieve him. Chapel Hill, our town, is famous for its Halloween celebration. Although it has calmed down considerably from its hay day back in the 90s, when over 80,000 ghosts, gremlins and merrymakers turned Franklin Street into an MTV event, it is still noteworthy. (Even has an article on Wikipedia!) I cautiously ventured out, making sure I knew what streets had been closed off, informing the traffic control folks at the road blocks that I was going to pick up my husband. There were people everywhere in our normally chilled "village". About 35,000.

Found in our pumpkin patch :)

The next morning we left for the Outer Banks, a beautiful string of barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia. We stayed for 2 nights, and thoroughly enjoyed our visits to the Wright Brothers Memorial, Jockey's Ridge and Manteo. For me, the highlight of any visit to the beach is the sunrise. Here, as the ocean is to the east, we watch the sun rise out of the ocean. This is always such a powerful and inspiring moment.

Thursday's sunrise at Kill Devil Hills

Friday's foggy sunrise

Of course, just walking on the beach is such a delight. To our surprise, we found this fabulous sand sculpture on Wednesday.

On Friday, we discovered another one, in the making. Its creator told us that this was his way of relaxing. (Sound familiar?) He said that when the tide came in, it gradually filled up the spiral and eventually, the water shot up from the center, like a fountain! He said that his favorite part of building these structures was seeing them carried away by the sea.

Volcano construction in progress

In honor of our anniversary, I made this on an Opus tile. (I'm grateful to Ria Matheusen, who inspired the background with her putty knife technique.)

20 things I love about Lar

Thanks for visiting! Have a creative and inspired week!