What happened to fall? I sure hope this cold snap will be short
lived. Pat and I once again decided to tough it out until November
before heading south. One reason is October ends with one of
our favorite events — Halloween!
Pat
likes to decorate with her pumpkins, witches and ghosts.This
year, she decided she wanted a harvest arrangement sitting
with them on a bale of straw. Have you tried to find those
square bales lately? I began to wonder how I could get one
of those big, round rolls into the yard. After checking with
a few of our farming friends, we were told Ziel’s on
Stoddard Road may have some small bales. Sure enough, they
had one and were happy to load it in my truck.
The little display is all set and the neighborhood cats appear
to enjoy playing with it. One of our neighbors complained because
it scared her little dog and it ran off into the street.
Halloween
is a holiday kids of all ages look forward to and youngsters
like to stuff as many goodies as possible
into
their bags or containers. Some get overly zealous and
drag along
a pillowcase for their haul of treats. We so enjoy the
costumes the Moms’ imaginations work so hard to create. If the
weather stays as chilly as it has been, the Moms better make
bigger costumes or buy larger sizes. The kids will have to
wear them over jackets and long pants. The kids won’t
be concerned with the cold; they get so excited running
from place to place, they never notice the icicles forming
on
their noses.
As
I see it, it’s time to remind drivers about the kids
darting out into the streets — so remember to please
drive very carefully if you’re traveling around
the night of Halloween. Most of us should be staying
home to
hand out
candy anyway.
The adults will be happy when Halloween rolls around because
only six days remain until they can answer their phones and
expect to hear a familiar voice. Most of us have hesitated
to even answer our phones during this election period. Callers
give a long, detailed message and then tell us how to vote.
Why
has the telephone become so popular during the campaign season?
Don’t those calling remember
a person has to reach the age of 18 before they
can cast a ballot?
Most of
us have developed the ability to make up our own
minds by the time we reach that age.
Not
only will we be able to use our phones without dread, we
will be able to carry our mail home in
one hand. One
day I
received five brochures in brilliant, glossy
color – three
were supporting one candidate. I had intended to vote for him,
so it seemed somewhat a waste to send me the three messages.
Actually, we should all be grateful for all the flyers being
mailed; it’s keeping our friends at the
Post Office working. Even though the postal rate
for
that type of
mailing is lower,
it should be putting dollars back into their
budget.
Another
great thing that will happen after Nov. 6 is we get more
viewing time on our TVs. We
may even
get
to see
news
at 6 p.m., instead of repeats of election promotional
discourse or what the polls are saying. This
election there are so
many
polls even the newscasters don’t know
which ones are close to accurate.
Yes, I did watch the debates and have but one question: Will
any candidate ever say the same thing twice?