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Samhain 2010
Oct. 31st, 2010 10:41 pm
I was worried this evening - I blew about $30 on candy & was worried that we wouldn't have any trick or treaters at all. Last year was a dud, mainly because of all the foreclosures in the neighborhood. By 8pm, I was worried we were going to run out of candy. I'm generous with it, none of this 'one per kid' crap. I give it out to the parents, too.
It feels kind of odd to carry on certain traditions. Rob & I are child-free, so we're not dragging our kids from house to house, listening to them whine about their feet or costume being uncomfortable after half a block. We don't have to worry about being too hot or too cold (it was nice outside, very fall-like for Vegas). Instead I find myself in the doorway, handing out the candy, complimenting the costumes (even the half-assed ones that the teenaged boys were wearing), offering hospitality to the parents. When I turned on the porchlight and stuck a flashlight in the pumpkin, I thought to myself, "here I am, lighting the time-honored lamp that indicates, 'hey, this house has candy!". With so many dark houses on our street, our porchlight and pumpkin were like a cheery yellow lighthouse.
Every year, I stand with the door open and wave to the grown-ups, letting them know I'm not an ogre, snatching their children up to eat. I tell everyone, 'happy Hallowe'en' & 'buenos Dia de los Muertos!'. One kid read my shirt aloud, "In case of zombie attack, follow me' told me I was awesome & then sang 'we wish you a merry Christmas'. He had the air of 'I am the older brother, pay no attention to me'. I had some plastic bugs mixed in with the candy & one little boy was completely awed by the big black plastic scorpion he ended up with. He ran down the sidewalk waving it & yelling 'Alacran! Alacran!' It's the only day of the year I can tolerate kids. Mainly because it's hard not to find a fat little toddler in a ladybug costume completely adorable. That, and the kid who was wearing ratty old clothes w/a sign around his neck that said, will work for candyand beer.
It's always kind of melancholy when the flood of trick or treaters trickle back down to nothing. I take the flashlight out of the pumpkin, turn the porch light off, lock the doors. For me, once I close the door, winter has arrived.
Here's Ryuk after dark:
( Read more... )
It feels kind of odd to carry on certain traditions. Rob & I are child-free, so we're not dragging our kids from house to house, listening to them whine about their feet or costume being uncomfortable after half a block. We don't have to worry about being too hot or too cold (it was nice outside, very fall-like for Vegas). Instead I find myself in the doorway, handing out the candy, complimenting the costumes (even the half-assed ones that the teenaged boys were wearing), offering hospitality to the parents. When I turned on the porchlight and stuck a flashlight in the pumpkin, I thought to myself, "here I am, lighting the time-honored lamp that indicates, 'hey, this house has candy!". With so many dark houses on our street, our porchlight and pumpkin were like a cheery yellow lighthouse.
Every year, I stand with the door open and wave to the grown-ups, letting them know I'm not an ogre, snatching their children up to eat. I tell everyone, 'happy Hallowe'en' & 'buenos Dia de los Muertos!'. One kid read my shirt aloud, "In case of zombie attack, follow me' told me I was awesome & then sang 'we wish you a merry Christmas'. He had the air of 'I am the older brother, pay no attention to me'. I had some plastic bugs mixed in with the candy & one little boy was completely awed by the big black plastic scorpion he ended up with. He ran down the sidewalk waving it & yelling 'Alacran! Alacran!' It's the only day of the year I can tolerate kids. Mainly because it's hard not to find a fat little toddler in a ladybug costume completely adorable. That, and the kid who was wearing ratty old clothes w/a sign around his neck that said, will work for candy
It's always kind of melancholy when the flood of trick or treaters trickle back down to nothing. I take the flashlight out of the pumpkin, turn the porch light off, lock the doors. For me, once I close the door, winter has arrived.
Here's Ryuk after dark:
( Read more... )
