Halloweentown
When I was a kid, we lived in a fairly remote small town in the mountains of New Mexico. The residents were pretty well scattered over a couple of canyons and some random hills, so trick or treating was a non-option. Instead, the school would host a Halloween carnival every year. Of course there was candy, but also a cake walk, lots of games and bobbing for apples (germfest - oh, the humanity!). One of our teachers would turn the library into a haunted house, complete with peeled grapes (eyeballs, doncha know) and slimy cold spaghetti (brains). We fell for it every time.
My kids probably don't remember Halloweens much until DUN, DUN, DUN!!! We moved to Duluth. The snow began mid-afternoon. By trick or treat time, there were many inches. We put the costumes on over snow pants, mittens, boots and hats. Grandma was there to stay with the kids the following day while my husband underwent outpatient surgery. That was Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, it was clear his stay in the hospital (and mine) would be extended. I think the snow stopped sometime late (very late) Friday night, but I have blocked some of this experience, so I can't be sure. All I know is that it dumped about 38 inches of white stuff on us and pretty much shut down the town. My mother-in-law was home with the kids and they were literally house bound because the snow had piled up so that the doors were useless. Fortunately, Bill rallied the neighbors and a team of snowblowers came to dig out the trio. My hubby and I finally got to go home Sunday afternoon. The other Duluth Halloweens were not so adventurous, for which I am grateful.
Last night I was handing out candy to all the little monsters. Hubby had gone to the store to get more, because I had underestimated how many visitors we would have. I was down to three Reeses and some Dum Dums. A group of four came to the door. I put Reeses in three bags and two Dum Dums in the last. The kid looked disgusted, pulled them out, threw them back in my bowl and said, "You can have these back, I want Reeses." I had just discovered a hidden Hershey piece and was holding it out for him, but stopped in my tracks at his rudeness. As I was standing there with my mouth hanging open, he reached out, took it and put it in his bag. It crossed my mind how cool it would be if the sky opened up and dumped 38 inches of snow on his head. Good thing I'm not a witch.
My kids probably don't remember Halloweens much until DUN, DUN, DUN!!! We moved to Duluth. The snow began mid-afternoon. By trick or treat time, there were many inches. We put the costumes on over snow pants, mittens, boots and hats. Grandma was there to stay with the kids the following day while my husband underwent outpatient surgery. That was Friday morning. By Friday afternoon, it was clear his stay in the hospital (and mine) would be extended. I think the snow stopped sometime late (very late) Friday night, but I have blocked some of this experience, so I can't be sure. All I know is that it dumped about 38 inches of white stuff on us and pretty much shut down the town. My mother-in-law was home with the kids and they were literally house bound because the snow had piled up so that the doors were useless. Fortunately, Bill rallied the neighbors and a team of snowblowers came to dig out the trio. My hubby and I finally got to go home Sunday afternoon. The other Duluth Halloweens were not so adventurous, for which I am grateful.
Last night I was handing out candy to all the little monsters. Hubby had gone to the store to get more, because I had underestimated how many visitors we would have. I was down to three Reeses and some Dum Dums. A group of four came to the door. I put Reeses in three bags and two Dum Dums in the last. The kid looked disgusted, pulled them out, threw them back in my bowl and said, "You can have these back, I want Reeses." I had just discovered a hidden Hershey piece and was holding it out for him, but stopped in my tracks at his rudeness. As I was standing there with my mouth hanging open, he reached out, took it and put it in his bag. It crossed my mind how cool it would be if the sky opened up and dumped 38 inches of snow on his head. Good thing I'm not a witch.
posted by Mom Thumb at 8:03 AM
8 Comments:
I remember the Halloween of '91 well. It was my first year in St. Cloud and my first week at my new job. The next morning I called my boss to tell him I was snowed in and couldn't make it to work that day. Unfortunately, the jerk had a 4-wheel drive and came and picked me up.
I had several kids stop by our house last night who didn't even bother with "trick or treat" or "thanks." Apparently it's now their right to get free candy from people. I somehow missed that ammendment.
I was really impressed with our new neighbor, Bill. He rescued my mother from isolation with Curtis and Jessica in the home. She said she couldn't get out of the house until Bill came over and cleared the snow. He wasn't asked, he didn't ask, he just took it upon himself to help people in trouble! I have fond memories of Duluth due in large part to our great neighbors!
I agree, Linda, good thing you're not a witch.
H-man - Wow, that's some boss. He should have been helping people dig out or something, not making you go to work.
I didn't get a lot of 'trick or treats' or 'thanks' either, but there was one really nice group of about 10 kids who all said, "thank you ma'am" Sweet.
randy - Bill and Lois were definitely the best neighbors we have ever had. Fortunately, they continue to be a part of our lives.
Might want to watch the witch comments. See Jeff's blog from Oct. 39. Just kidding.... .
Nice kid. I remember the ice storm of '91. I was scraping ice off my car for a loooonnng time.
Welcome MT to the wonderful, wacky world of blogging. Jeff over on the Cloud was one of my early readers. I am a big fan. And yes, I you love to write and are looking for an audience, this is the medium. Also a great way to hone your skills.
Thanks for sopping by my place. Your story was a hit. I love it when a comment gets more comments then the post!
There are several other writers out there who I read on a regular basis. One is Wendy over on the Poop Deck at http://www.wendyboucher.com/blog/. The other is Tamarra at http://mightyandsublime.blogspot.com/who is trying to get her first book published. Enjoy.
And as you already know, never hit the "publish comment" button until you have given it a quick once over for errors....
Heather - the ice storm actually happened a few months before we moved to Duluth. And I have to say, I'm not sorry. :-)
Momma - thanks, I think I will really like this blogging thing. And thank you for the other blog sites, I will check them out. I'm learning about checking for errors. Note on my reply to my husband's comment, Jeff published a post on Oct. 39. Good trick, huh?
Randy--Thanks for the nice compliments!!!And as I tell Linda (in the few times I get around to writing) I still miss you guys. We thought YOU were wonderful neighbors!!!
Post a Comment
<< Home