Spooky

I’m sad to be missing Halloween at home.

Our neighbourhood always gets huge crowds of kids (our area has a reputation for giving out loads of good candy) and I’m one of those people who likes to make the walk to the door scary and reward the brave kids that make it.

When we were little my mom went all out at Halloween – had us making gravestones out of Styrofoam to decorate the yard, sticking bloody fake limbs in bushes, it was fantastic. Elizabeth always made a fuss and complained when we got fake blood on her clothes, but even she would pitch in and string fake cobwebs up. Dad would procure all the candy to give out and supervise to make sure the horror was tastefully done. We each did a jack-o-lantern. It was one of my favourite holidays.

Out here trick or treating doesn't work – all the houses are too far apart. My nephew will be taken to a private party at his friend’s place and the rest of us will treat it like a normal night. But maybe I’ll get a pumpkin and my nephew and I can carve it and light it, just in case there are any spooks up here that need to be kept at bay.