| Things I'll never understand: Why do we warn our kids to never take candy from strangers, then once a year, we take them to the homes of strangers to get candy? Why do we warn our children about a stranger trying to touch them in an inappropriate way, then, once a year, we let them sit on the lap of an old man in a red suit to have a lengthy conversation about the toys he will bring when he sneaks into their house in the middle of the night? But it's Santa! I can hear some of you justify it. My question is this...if he didn't have the red suit on, would you let your kid sit on his lap? I hate to break the news to you... It's not the real Santa. It's a guy dressed up. You don't know him. As my daughter told me on her very last trip to see the mall Santa. "You sit on his lap!" I have many questions about children and the holidays, like why we try to convince them that an egg comes out of rabbit... Anyway, back to the present holiday. We went trick or treating on Halloween night. Joe opted to stay home since we had gone through the trouble of carving pumpkins. He thought he might get to answer the door. No one came. He felt stood up. Of course, we don't have any neighbors with young children, so ours was not a street like Aloha which was alive with activity. I met up with a good friend and her daughter at Round Table, then we went to Brearcliffe Drive. Wow! The people there really get into the spirit of the holiday. I was really impressed with some of the displays. |
| This guy on the right, apparently too old to go trick or treating himself, still found a way to enjoy the night. He scared the crap out of my kids. They thought he was part of a Halloween display. When Jonah went a little closer to inspect, he suddenly moved and yelled, "AHHHH!" Later, we saw other kids running down the sidewalk after having similar experiences. Hats off to you, sir, for helping my kids feel that good old fight or flight response. When their heart rates returned to a normal pace, they really appreciated your efforts to make their Halloween more memorable... and I loved it. |
| This house had a hot tub with bones floating in it. As I peered inside, the owner told me that it was someone who'd been in there soaking a little too long. An elderly aunt, perhaps? Very cool effects! |
| On the way home, Joe called and asked me to pick something up at a fast food place for his dinner. I can't really summarize what transpired... it's deserving of a full article. Once I started writing about it, I couldn't stop. So, next week, you'll read about my drive-through experience. Something memorable always happens to me at the drive through. I got this one on video tape. Don't miss it. Until next week... Sign the guestbook! Back to the Homepage at www.redbluffismytown.com |
| This is my friend Rhonda's display. I like the effect of the Jack-o-lantern and the Virgin Mary side by side. Some people believe that we should not celebrate Halloween, that it's a pagan holiday. Rhonda seems to flip flop on this issue. |
