boo! (the morning after edition)

i don't normally make a huge deal out of halloween, mainly because i don't have time. in principle, however, i love this holiday! yesterday i became determined to at least carve a pumpkin and spend some time sitting on the porch to greet what few trick-or-treaters we actually get. it's sad, given where we live, that we don't get more of them, but it seems like so few people know or trust their neighbors these days. anyway--let's just ignore that and keep typing lest i digress... so yeah--pumpkin. i went to 3 grocery stores yesterday before i found ANY pumpkins, and was lucky enough to get a good round one with the stem in tact. i then carved it up using a pattern--my first foray into jack-o-lanterns by design. it made me a little sad really. the last time i carved a pumpkin was a thousand years ago with my nephew jeremy who has since passed away. but then--i guess ghosts are what it's all about on halloween, right? anyway--digressing again... i actually think this pumpkin came out pretty well, in spite of my lack of experience. i only had to get consults form the hippie roughly every 10 seconds. so--sporting my crazy orange pants and my boo shirt, i made my way to the porch with a lit up pumpkin, a huge bowl of candy, and some knitting. and it was worth it just to see my little neighbor nora dressed up like a chicken (slightly freaked out by my scary eyes), and my other neighbor alison's little niece dressed like a princess (doing a touchdown dance after every piece of candy). it was fairly tame, but definitely enjoyable. hopefully next year, we will be living in a neighborhood with more small children, because i plan to go all out! happy late halloween, people, and apologies for the rambling nature of this post--i am all over the place today.