Happy Halloween

I've been swept away with the flurry of Halloween preparations this week. I'm making a goddess dress for my costume and my oldest son was invited to a party and we bought supplies to make a special coat for his character, Vash. Plus, of course, we had to carve pumpkins. We only did two, and no, the photo isn't ours. Our pumpkins are much more, hmm, basic. Nothing too exciting. And of course, if you carve pumpkins, then you have to roast the seeds. And next is making pumpkin bars. We aren't much into pies, but the bars are really popular. They are kind of like a pumpkin brownie or moist cake cut into bars.

All this activity is really quite amusing since we are never actually home on Halloween. We live on a street that does not encourage walking and in fact, the traffic makes it dangerous even during the day, there's no way I'd walk it at night. Plus, there are only a few homes anyway and we all pretty much agree to discourage kids from even trying to trick-or-treat here so everyone's lights are out. So instead, we usually go to my father's neighborhood, which is where I went begging for candy many moons ago. We travel the same route and my kids enjoy a much richer selection of bounty than I ever did. Actually, my husband and I walk with my youngest now and there's a couple of homes on the route that even have treats for the grownups. Let's just say it's a good thing we are walking when we finish these treats and not driving. Yummy though.

We have friends that throw an elaborate Halloween party every year and costumes are required. I'm going as the goddess, Hecate. My husband is going as Harry Molson. Maybe you've heard of the Molson brewing family? Harry Molson was on the Titanic and was last seen removing his shoes to swim to a ship he could see in the distance. As absurd as that sounds, he had already survived two other ships sinking by swimming to safety. Unfortunately, he was never seen again. Until now. He doesn't seem to get that he's dead. Hecate is a goddess of wandering souls, so she seems a fitting complement for the party we are attending. The party is a lot of fun but we really feel compelled to create interesting and unique costumes. The competition is fierce.

Finally, in the background behind all this my brain is going nuts with ideas for stories. I was just at my eldest's orchestra concert and while the last group was playing yet another story forced itself to my attention. I really wanted to jot down some notes, but thankfully I didn't have anything to write on. It would have been rude, especially since we were sitting in the fourth row in the center. No hiding in the back. I came home and started writing notes immediately. :-)

I wish you all a Happy Halloween and Samhain!