Friday, November 1, 2024

Another Halloween

  I have been so intent on my manuscript, the days have gone by unnoticed.  I am letting other family members deal with Halloween.  I feel like kind of a Grinch about it, but Halloween has changed  from a couple of hours of princesses and pirates asking for candy to such a hoard that our street is blocked.  There are teenagers with no costumes carrying pillow cases, adults trick or treating along with their kids and entitled trick or treaters who fuss about what you offer them or simply try to help themselves to a handful of candy.

The number keeps growing too. No matter how much candy we get, we run out before the street has cleared.  I think we have about 400 little bags of gummy bears to give out.

I am hoping that the family and friends crew who are planning to sit on the front porch  to hand out the gummy bears shows up.  It has happened before--they all take off and I'm the last one standing to dole out the treats.  If that happens, I won't be a Grinch and will smile through the whirlwind of handing out the candy to the line of kids while wishing them all a Happy Halloween.

Personally, I am much more interested in Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead.  I like the idea of making altars for those who have passed on.  They are filled with color, flowers and food.  


 


8 comments:

Patty said...

Good morning -- Wow, you do get a lot of trick or treaters -- not a one here in my condo area -- my son said he only had a few at his house. There are several trunk and treats set up nearby so that may be where the kids went.

A daughter-in-law of my husband was from south Texas and she did elaborate Day of the Dead displays in her home. And she made enough food to feed an army!! Unfortunately, she wasn't a very good cook!!

I've been doing my usual crocheting. My current project is a big granny square blanket using the Bitty Stripes yarn in the color Mermaid -- beautiful shades of green, blue, lavender. I'll have a half dozen blankets to take to the Ronald McDonald House next week, then I'm going to finish a couple of Christmas gift projects. A young friend's grandmother died recently and she left boxes and boxes of yarn -- I was asked to look at it and take anything I wanted. A lot of it was old wool blends, which I can't use, and lots of partial skeins. I took about a dozen skeins from the many, many that were there. They've found someone who makes pads for an animal shelter and she is taking a lot -- said the animals don't care about clashing colors!!

It's chilly this morning -- turned on heat the past two days. Rain is predicted for Sunday -- badly needed.

Any tentative publication date for your next book? I'm ready for a new adventure of the Tarzana Hookers!!

Enjoy your day -- and your weekend.


Linda O. Johnston said...

As I anticipated, we didn't get any trick-or-treaters at our house, Betty. Maybe you should have sent some of yours to our house! But this way we do have some leftover candy to eat.

Linda Osborn said...

No kids the past couple of years, so last night i turned out the porch light. By some chance i did happen to get one bag of candy that l like , so i suppose i will have to eat it . Many churches around here have the trunk parties, and i think many parents feel that is safer now.
It seems so much colder both day and night. I am wearing sweaters in the house all day.
Hoping to see a new book soon. I have been reading a lot of historical works about the rough lives so many children have gone through--i need a break !!

Betty Hechtman said...

Patty, I laughed about the woman who made all the food, but wasn't a good cook. They must love you at Ronald McDonald House. The pads for the animals sounds like great way to use up bits of yarn.

I have been turning on the heat, too. It seems such an abrupt change. We got a few sprinkles of rain during the week.

As soon as I finish MURDER BY THE HOOK, I 'll have a release date. The first book in the Crochet and Crumpet series, DEATH AMONG THE STITCHES comes out in January.

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda Johnston, my family came through and took care of the trick or treaters. They were in costumes, had music to go with their costumes and had decorated our front yard, along with projections of something on the front of the house. They gave out everything we had which meant there were over 700 trick or treaters. I was oh, so glad to let them deal with it and they had lots of fun. A win-win!.

Betty Hechtman said...

LInda Osborn, Jakey talked about the trunk and treat thing. It was the first I had heard about it. He likes to give out candy as much as collect it. I heard him serving pizza to the friends and family on our front porch.

I know what you mean about wearing a sweater inside. I have a whole selection of overshirts I put on.

I can understand you needing a break from the stories about kids in bad situations. Once you read it, it sticks in your mind. I find now that I can't handle reading sad stories about kids or animals. I get too upset.

Patty Jenkins said...

If you want a really feel-good book, read "Theo of Golden." Absolutely wonderful.

Betty Hechtman said...

Patty, thank you.