Halloween Happenings

I interrupt the travel stories with an accounting of Halloween, 2022. Pretty likely that my ambivalence towards this holiday has been well documented in the past, probably because I no longer have small children at home, nor in the neighborhood, for that matter. There was a time when the whole dressing up thing was reserved for small children, say 10 and under, however, with the flood of inexpensive goods from China, adults grabbed the opportunity to dress up silly for a day as well. Add to that the ease of ordering everything and anything from Amazon, including costumes for every member of the family from the parents down to the dog, and you've got yourself a very festive occasion. 

Our daughter-in-law never shies away from dressing up, in fact loves it and does it with style whatever the occasion. Holiday decorating is part and parcel of her repertoire and boy does she do a good job of it. She showed off those mad skills when preparing for hers and David's party two weeks ago. I mean really, a skeleton taking a bubble bath?

No room was left to chance...

Clever ideas and decorations were to be found in abundance all over their condo. And then there was the lighting which made all of us look purple, including she and David.

It was either purple or use the flash on my camera which, well, the ambiance was certainly lost.

In spite of being known as someone who sews, it has been years and years since last I made a real costume. I happened to come across this adorable picture of me and Jonathan when he was about three. I wonder what possessed me to use that color of gingham? I am in scrubs which was a big no-no wearing them home, but I had a family to attend to, so slipped out of the hospital fast.  What a cutie pie he was! Still is for that matter.

Anyway, not wanting to get too involved in a costume, I suggested to Bruce that we go as Salt and Pepper and so we did. My shirt is actually white, as are the pants.  Our shakers were disposable pans with holes punched in the top. We bought the t-shirts at Hobby Lobby then used iron on letters purchased from there. Easy-peasy!

We got a few laughs that night as we did at pickleball on Halloween when we wore our shirts. Following pickleball that day, we made a trip to Costco and I kid you not...when we were checking out the helper guy read Bruce's shirt and asked him if that was his name. Overhearing him, I pointed to my shirt and he broke out into a laugh. :)

There was great food, drinks, and energy at Dave and Michelle's party. Some folks, including Nancy and Fallon went outside for a few moments to cool off as the air conditioner was having to work overtime in the continuing heat.

Perhaps you are wondering what in the world is about to grab Pirate Nancy and Fallon...this is the culprit.

Before we left on our trip to the mountains Bruce gave David a hand with this, well, what do I call it? Suggestions welcome! Action figure perhaps?

In keeping with our minimalist vibe, Bruce found a new spot to hang our meagre annual decoration.

Out and about I saw this super cool yard with the flying witch. 

I was so impressed that I got the face too.

At church they have something, which I guess is not new but fairly new to us, trunk or treat. Multiple families participated with some of them super clever including the Crayon family with their box of crayons below.

This one needs no introduction.

The most startling time for us however, was spending Halloween night at our pickleball friend Maryanne's house where there was such an array of costumes, kids, parents, the likes of which we'd never before seen. Her husband Al created this amazing front yard to entertain all those folks. 

He actually made all the headstones himself, programed the pumpkin lights as well as the light display above their front door. There is so much to it that never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that he handcrafted most of it. Oh my, oh my! We had never met Al before but he and Bruce got along famously. As to the trick or treaters...Maryanne told me that she had 450 pieces of candy which is what prompted me to invite ourselves to see the spectacle! In our old neighborhood we had maybe 20 children on a good night? Here there are none, so I was thrilled when she said "come on over."

The festivities began before dark and continued until 9PM when the last piece of candy was given out. How many people came? She gave one piece of candy to all who came.

You do the math! It was seriously unreal the volume with so many coming at once it was hard to even notice their costumes, unless maybe they had already come once before and tried to sneak in another visit! I had her laughing as I kept a running commentary going about parents dressing up, kids out so late, and late teens getting in on the action. Naturally I have opinions on it all, including suggesting to Al that he check out the fog machine running as part of a neighbor's display just down the street. As it turns out, he too normally has a similar effect except it comes from the witch's cauldron that I did not show you. Apparently he could not find the remote, a familiar refrain for all of us, right?

Looks pretty spooky doesn't it? 

Speaking of spooky, and completely off topic, last week the mornings were so humid and a few days crazy foggy. I suspect this won't be a problem again, now that we are back to standard time.

But I digress...

On our way home, which btw, is one of the handful of times I've driven at night this year, we stopped at a home that I've seen decorated (documented in link)for years, but only in the daylight. Oh my goodness, at night it is something else. Then again it's pretty intense in the daylight.

As I wrote in the previous post, where the heck does someone store all of this, not to mention that they do tons for Christmas only weeks later!

Not Halloween related, but what the heck, this is my blog so I can include whatever I feel like, was a wonderful evening spent celebrating Shirley's 80th birthday last Thursday night. Many years ago I met a patient named Kathy who lived not far from our old house. We got to know one another outside of the hospital because for one, I would see her at Publix, and secondly because I would ride my bicycle every day, oftentimes down her street. Her home is hard to miss because it is red and wonderful. Seriously eye-catching and immaculate too. 

Massive trees, a huge back yard and lakefront, what's not to like? 

Unless, of course, there is a hurricane. She and her husband Mike explained how Hurricane Ian created 60 bags worth of debris!! That red is just so good.

Kathy has an interesting story as to how she owns this home, as well as her first husband's occupation that I will tell another day. Thanks to the magic of facebook, five years ago, a former teen boyfriend, who had also lost his spouse to cancer,  found her and got in touch. Long story short, and it's really a good story that deserves telling, they are happy as can be in this charming place. Shirley and Kathy go way back as friends, we, of course, only met her in March on our first day at the Dover Shores pickleball courts. Marveling at her skills at first, it is her character that we have so grown to admire. We felt really blessed to be included in the celebration of her 80 years of life.

Aren't the best conversations held around a dining table? Turns out that Mike grew up nearby, knows all sorts of the same people and it was, all in all, a terrific get together.

Happy 80th Shirley!

Lastly, one recent day, maybe it was a week ago Friday, anyway, Bruce was tasked with hanging Nancy's artwork collection which is considerable. While that was happening, I went for a walk in her neighborhood where I saw this charming little display.

It takes all kinds right? Scary, moody, clever and cute, I saw them all this Halloween. Everything was all good fun too!

your friend,

Gail

p.s. One more post on travel before we take off again, this time, or so I hope, a camping trip!