Cold for Halloween

Maybe that quote explains the one house in our neighborhood that went overboard on the outdoor decorations. I’m talking about some really big things (not the inflatable ones). I’m not even sure how you’d store those unless they come apart.

We do have some light strings up but that is mostly because we have a very long driveway and the garage lights only go so far. Trying to make it inviting although I know we won’t draw a big crowd. It seems like those who go trick or treating stay in their own neighborhoods because nobody trusts anyone anymore. Plus, there are all the “trunk or treat” variety of options at different places. Seems a sad alternative but things change.

I’ve written before about the free range Halloween’s of my childhood so I won’t go into that again. I mean it wasn’t like we totally trusted everyone even back then. There were always rumors about razor blades in apples and other such nasty things. We just tossed out anything suspicious and went on with life. I think many of us secretly wanted to find something in an apple. Not to bite into it of course but just to make the rumors true.

We have candy ready to go. I always buy far more than we need. Guess some part of me holds out hope that we’ll get more kids. I do know others are busier than we are so it is really just how our neighborhood is laid out more so than a decline in house to house trick or treating. But we buy the good stuff because it is a hike to get up to our house so any kids that does it deserves more than a box of Milk Duds.

Friday night we went to local attraction. A couple of years ago, they added a Halloween themed event so you can walk the grounds and look at various not so creepy things. Lots of pumpkins although the ones that are “carved” were not real but, then again, they can be used over and over again and you don’t have to invest the time in having people carve them. To be honest, they fooled us at first until we did a close inspection.

Lots of real pumpkins and other squash scattered around as well but it was dark when we went so they didn’t show up as much. They themed all the walks with one being the “Pumpkin path of peril”. It was nicely done and we enjoyed the walk even though it was wall to wall people.

It helped that we had what was probably the last of fall/summer weather and temperatures were in the upper 70’s. I saw a lot of people like me who brought jackets because it was October and you just figured you needed a jacket after the sun went down. Nope. Could have gotten away with the shorts and t-shirt. It was just that warm.

Then, the bottom fell out on Saturday and we have a freeze warning in effect for tonight. Halloween is going to be really cold but at least there is no rain or snow in the forecast. I remember one year there was a cold rain and I felt really sorry for all the kids who were out in it (handed out extra candy just because). Cold on Halloween does kind of suck though because the costumes are sometimes covered with jackets and it is more fun to see the kids in their costumes.

Guess we’ll see how many show up tomorrow night. I’m not expecting much of a crowd but I’ve got the candy ready to go.