Orange and black and green and purple – the colors of Halloween – were everywhere on my bike ride yesterday.  Well, not everywhere.

Parts of the trail I ride are wooded and narrow.  Tree limbs and roots jut out in unexpected places.  My senses become completely focused on navigating the twists, and my heart beats faster from the effort.

I often listen to horror podcasts when I’m biking, and more than once I’ve become spooked by the combination of crunching pine needles, creepy recordings, and adrenaline.

(The crunching sound is the bike, I swear.  You don’t see anything creeping along in the woods, following us, right?)

It’s a little terrifying, which is kind of perfect for a horror lover.

Elsewhere, where the trail is sunny, October is showing herself.  Orange and black
and green and purple all hearken to Halloween.

The nights are cooler and come earlier, and the woods show it.  The beautyberry are drooping with heavy, purple fruit.  The ferns near the marshes are deepening to a black green, with orange sori on their undersides.

October in Florida is subtle, but if you look closely and there is a riot of color.

And not far away, there is a trail winding into the dark woods again, another reminder of the path to Halloween night.