Macabre Mystery

Sounds like a good pre-Halloween title, doesn't it?  But we had something creepy and weird happen.  Jeff noticed our cat Kalani staring up at an area of the fence between our house and the people who live behind us.  He walked up to see what had Kalani so spellbound and saw that it was a bird... a pigeon.  It was dead and it was precariously balanced on the top of the fence.  Upon close inspection, Jeff could see that it had blue tape around it's legs, like bands for marking pet pigeons.  But the really weird thing was that it's head was cut completely off.  Under it's wing, there was some blood and what looked like a gun shot hole.  We asked the people behind us if they had any ideas about it and they didn't.  The only good explanation I could think of was maybe their gardener found it while mowing the lawn and stuck it up on the fence but even that doesn't really make too much sense.  It's a mystery!

While I'm on the topic of Halloween, I thought I'd mention a few children's books about Halloween.  Every day when he gets home from school, Ryan wants me to read two books to him.  His favorite is called Ten Timid Ghosts by Jennifer O'Connell.  It's an inexpensive little paperback but kids love it.  I used to read it to my 1st and 2nd graders.  Once they realize that the witch is behind all the costumes scaring the ghosts, they feel like they're in on an inside joke and just love it.  The second is called Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman.  It's a cute book about cooperation and sharing between a witch and other spooky creatures.  If you have older kids or grandkids (maybe 2nd-4th graders) I recommend Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini and it's sequel Zoom Broom.  Both those books were real crowd pleasers when I was teaching.  And if you're book shopping and want a great Thanksgiving book that's funny, there's "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie" by Alison Jackson.  I'm so pleased that Ryan wants me to read these books to him every day!