Tricky seasons

By my count, Halloween is ten days from now. It seems a little early for Mother Nature to be doing Trick or Treat with us. Clearly, her sense of "seasonal" is different than ours, since yesterday she dumped five inches of snow in the county north of us. In St. Paul this morning there were snow flurries. Driving home, snow ghosts drifted across the road ahead of the wind. I much prefer the seasonal decorations found in this picture.

If you had asked us if we had an interesting pumpkin carving on the dining table a couple of years ago, we're pretty sure the response would have been "Dunno, might have." Photos with embedded time and date stamps eliminate that uncertainty. The owners and operators of the group home our son is in usually do up Halloween in a big way, including pumpkin carving contests. I thought the creativity in this one was outstanding.

In our neighborhood, we can't recall even one Trick or Treater showing up at the door in the 20 or so years we've been here. When the kids were younger, we drove into town on Halloween so they could enjoy the traditional treats. We tried to make sure while they were in school that we avoided the kind of trick in this poem by Kenn Nesbitt.

Halloween Party

By Kenn Nesbitt

We’re having a Halloween party at school.

I’m dressed up like Dracula. Man, I look cool!

I dyed my hair black, and I cut off my bangs.

I’m wearing a cape and some fake plastic fangs.

I put on some makeup to paint my face white,

like creatures that only come out in the night.

My fingernails, too, are all pointed and red.

I look like I’m recently back from the dead.

My mom drops me off, and I run into school

and suddenly feel like the world’s biggest fool.

The other kids stare like I’m some kind of freak—

the Halloween party is not till next week.

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