Happy Halloween

Hope you and yours had a fun and spooky Halloween. Here the celebration is not what it use to be when the kids were little. The good part is the we no longer have the pressure to come up with three costumes that were just "right". The down part is we have no one to dress up and send out for their share of the evening's spoils. Our neighborhood has changed a great deal since we moved in almost 25 years ago. When we moved into the community, there were a lot of kids the same age as our kids and we would have lots of kids ringing our doorbell Halloween night. We easily gave out four bags of candy. Then, as kids do, they grew up and our neighborhood got old with them. The number of Trick or Treaters fell off. We weren't even handing out 2 bags of candy anymore. Recently as the neighborhood kids went off to college and graduated and moved out, the neighborhood began to turn over. Our neighbors started to retire and move away. Some passed away and their houses sold. Newer and younger families moved in even though we still refer to the houses by their original owners. Its still the Stewart house although they haven't lived their for years and three other families have come and gone since they lived there. Its still the Patterson house although he retired and they moved away several years ago. One of the the teenagers we used as a babysitter when our kids were little now brings her kids by for Trick or Treating. The number of Witches and Goblins that visited was more this year then we've had for a while. Its makes the neighborhood feel a little younger.

The Son and I carved our pumpkin mere hours before dark. We hadn't even carved one for a few years now. Seems like we always ran out of time. I think the fact the Daylight Savings Time starts a week later gave us a little more daylight to play with before the spell of darkness fell and the innocent looking kids we see walk by everyday on their way to school transformed into the scary monsters that demanded a treat lest they wreck havoc on us, our furry children or our humble abode. Its easy to buy them off with a few sugary treats. Of course one advantage of being the one that shops for the candy is you get to pick out what you like to eat. You know, just in case there are a few pieces left over and may be sitting in out freezer right now to enjoy as an after dinner treat for the next few days. Boo to you all!