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I’ve been meaning to photograph this distinctive, evolving yard art for sometime now.

Neighbors Emily and Stephen are creative, fun, funky people — the kind of folks who give bacon to marathon runners, teach yoga, and create wonderful illustrations. They also start planning their Halloween decorations months in advance. For 2021, they will require lots of dolls, so they put out the call for any neighbors who might stumble across such items at Dig N’ Save or Goodwill.

File this under “Be Careful What You Ask For.”

Over the course of several weeks, about five dozen dolls showed up. All over the yard. At the back door. On the front porch. Perched in snowbanks and suspended from trees.

Springtime may be the time to let calves out of the barn, but it’s time for these babes to go inside for a few months, giving the trees a little space to leaf-out. Never missing an opportunity to tell a story, Emily and Stephen are staging the disappearance in phases. Each day, a few more dollies come down from the tree and march toward the front door. They will all be out of sight in the next week or so, but look for their triumphant (and creepy) return in October.