A little fresh air would be good for you just now. The weather is lovely; and a little stroll in the park will bring the colour back to your cheeks. ~J. Palgrave Simpson, Victorian playwright
Today, I’m joining Robin over at Breezes at Dawn for the annual jaunt known as Walktober. We each take a walk (ride a bike, swim, skate, whatever), post about it (with pictures, if possible), and Robin gathers links to each post so we all can travel together and enjoy other parts of our amazing world.
So lace up your sneakers and join me as we travel around Central Illinois, marveling at the Fall and Halloween decorations … and the lack of drop-dead gorgeous color.
Most of our trees are still green. Some are showing spots of yellow like this one. Others have leaves that are brown and ready to drop. It’s a mixed bag.
Homeowners here like to decorate. Pumpkins, mums, and “Welcome Fall” signs share space with witches, ghosts, spiders, and what-not. One traditional “decoration” is toilet paper (seriously!) as kids treat their pals to after-the-football-game clean up duty:
Some folks go for the sweet and relatively tame:
Others prefer the scary, like graveyards:
Or ghosts swinging in the breeze:
Ouch!!
Or a bit of this-and-that:
Some go all out, with creepy things that emit noises when you pass by:
Pretty mums line the front of this house:
More colorful mums:
And some witches have lost their hats:
I’ve no idea how far we walked, but I’ve enjoyed having you along. Here’s hoping next year, Mother Nature cooperates and the leaf colors are amazing.
Thanks, Robin, for organizing Walktober. What a great “excuse” to get out and about!
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
What a cool idea, perfect for Walktober!!
Thank you, Dawn, for cheering me up. It isn’t at all what I’d hoped for, but sometimes you’ve got to go with what you’ve got. I’d promised Robin I would participate, so I couldn’t disappoint her!
Same here, Debbie, most of our trees are still green. I have a feeling this fall is going to be like last year and arrive late, and all at once.
OMG, the picture of the house with toilet paper instantly reminded me of when I was a kid and would toilet paper the neighbors homes. LOL! I didn’t think kids did that anymore.
I am loving the Halloween/Fall decorations in your photos. So festive! And that overcast sky adds to the whole Fall-Feeling. I really like that house in the 7th photo down (that says, OUCH!). I love that porch!
Thanks so much for sharing your walk, my friend. I really enjoyed this while having my morning cup of coffee. Have an awesome Sunday X
You did the toilet papering thing, too? Wasn’t it fun? I only went a few times (and never did we egg cars or soap windows), but I imagine it’s a pretty expensive venture at today’s prices.
I’m guessing you like the Queen Anne wrap-around porch, right? Isn’t it splendid? I’ve always thought it would be such a special place to sit out on a summer’s day with a tall lemonade and watch the world go by.
Glad you found my jaunt enjoyable, Ron. Looks like we’re sending you more rain for this week, so stay dry! xx
Wow, homeowners really do like to decorate in your neighborhood! What a great Walktober! 🍁 Most of our trees are still green, too, although Oct. 24 – Nov. 6 is supposed to be our peak. I love the witch plastered to the tree. And all the mums. One can never have too many mums. 🍂
To clarify, not all these are in my neighborhood, Barbara, but some, of course, are. And yes, I picked out the houses that felt over-the-top in their decorations. This isn’t the Walktober I’d planned on, but the weather just refused to cooperate. Oh, well, I suppose there’s always next year!
Too bad about the lack of color, but how fun it was to see the variety of Halloween decorations. I particularly liked the witches’ hats.
Thanks, Laurie. Our weather has been “witchy” at best, but I decided to make the best of it anyway. I’d never seen colored witch hats before — and I agree, someone was most clever in circling this tree with them.
How festive and fun!
Thank you, Cindy. Glad you enjoyed it!
Cheers to you participating in Robin’s Walktober. She’s wonderful. Love the stroll through your neighborhood – and it is amazing how all-out some people go for Halloween. Hi Debbie. Hope all is well!
Hey, Frank. Good to see you over here! Yes, some folks really do it up big for the holidays. I can understand Christmas, of course, but I just can’t get that enthused over Halloween. Our weather typically is pretty wretched then, and I’m certain Monkey will fail to appreciate kids in costumes standing outside his front door!
I totally don’t get the Halloween enthusiasm either, but I enjoy seeing it. How’s Monkey doing? PS: Hope the Domers keep winning!
Monkey’s driving me to distraction, but he meets “Mr. Clip” next week, and I have high hopes that will tone him down a speck. Oh, yes, I hope the Irish keep winning, too (and my Rebels, of course!!) Have you been South lately??
Cheers to the joys Donkey brings to you. The Rebels? …. you have Ole Miss ties? … no south for me …. YET. 😉
Perfect decorations Debbie. Thanks for sharing.
I’m glad you could join me, John. And I’m glad you enjoyed our walk!
Yes I did. 😁
This really was fun. Like you, we’re still mostly green, but those pumpkins and mums do a fine job of providing a little color. Around here, one of the “in” things to do is mount skeletons on cars: especially jeeps and such. Do they do that in your town?
I suppose because I’m not a kid any more I preferred the “sweet and tame” decorations, but they’re all fun, and of course the kids (of every age!) will love them.
Linda, I’ve never seen a skeleton mounted on a car! Now, at Christmas, some folks attach reindeer antlers to their vehicles, or wreaths to their front grills, but the skeleton is a new one. I’ll keep looking to see if the trend makes its way up here.
You know, I like the Fall decorations much better than the scary Halloween ones, too. Of course, that’s probably because I’m a writer and my imagination is always working on overdrive, ha!
I enjoyed that walk very much, Debbie! There certainly is a wide range of tastes represented. I must say that I like the ‘cute’ much more than the ‘scary’ decorations. 🙂
Thanks for joining me, Eliza. I probably should’ve gotten a video of that scary scene with the creatures moaning and groaning as I walked by. At first, it really startled me!
Haha, great decorations! It’s not really a thing we do much here, though I did spot a chap at the shops this morning carrying two enormous pumpkins, so he’s either going to decorate or his family is going to be eating a lot of pie!
You know, FF, they say pumpkins are in short supply this year because of the nasty weather conditions, so I’ll bet that fellow was going to decorate and then use the innards for pie! Much better to conserve the entire thing rather than trash it, don’t you think?
What a wonderful walk, Debbie. Thank you for taking us along with you!
Oh, Dale, I’m delighted you could join me. Thanks for telling me you enjoyed it!
Absolutely!
What a great Walktober!!! Loved it all!
Thanks for stopping by, Beth Ann! I’m glad to have you walk with me — the more, the merrier!
Such pretty photos!! Thanks for sharing….it was fun to see how people decorate for Halloween and Fall.
Thanks, Ann, I’m glad you enjoyed our jaunt. It’s a good thing we did it when we did because our weather has been especially challenging for things like this!
What a great theme for Walktober, Debbie. There are so many interesting decorations out these late fall days. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Debbie, and thank you so much for joining in again. The decorations are so much fun! I don’t get to see many out my way (living in the Middle of Nowhere) so it’s nice to take a stroll and have a look at some. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed them, Robin. It wasn’t my first choice for this year’s Walk, but maybe next year the weather will be more cooperative!
Our colors are really popping now, Debbie, and I have to get out this week with my cameras. Speaking of walks, thank you for showing us your part of the world. I so enjoyed your walk that you shared with us. Bless you! xo
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Amy, and I’m gladder still you told me so! Thanks for accompanying me on this walk.
Love the pumpkins and witches hats but I never really like Halloween. Fun for the youngsters though.
Hi! I’m 100 percent with you on that. I like the Fallish things, but all that creepiness concerns me. Perhaps my own imagination tends to run wild at this time of year?!
I enjoyed your walk and the Halloween decorations. Our autumn colours are late this year as well.
Thanks for stopping by, Anne — it’s nice to meet you! And here I thought we were the only ones lagging behind in autumnal color this year.