Last week I announced, “They’re coming, they’re
coming; this week they’re gone. Halloween is over and
so is the election.
Witches, ghosts, goblins, cowboys and lots of kids, including
Pebbles and Bam-Bam visited our house last Sunday. It was almost
like a raid.
It
all began when Pebbles Zimmerman arrived at my door. I held
out my big bowl of candy and invited Pebbles to help
herself
(the kids like to do this). She chose her favorite, regular
M&M’s, and deposited them in her pumpkin bucket.
I said, “Take another.” She smiled and said “OK.”
The
bowl I
was holding had three different kinds of M&M’s,
as well as four different candy bars. She chose another bag
of regular M&M’s. I took a bag of peanut M & M’s
and dropped them in her bucket thinking she hadn’t noticed.
While I played a minute with her brother, 4-month old Bam-Bam,
Pebbles put the peanut M & M’s back in the bowl and
selected another regular M&M’s. When I tried
to check her bucket, she wrestled it away and off she
went with
brother,
Mom and Dad.
Next
Halloween will really be a problem with that family, Bam-Bam
will probably be able to fill two buckets himself
as big as
he is now. When the family left, they noticed my
porch light was not lit. I thought, oh no, I’ll have
to get a ladder to change it and with the kids pushing
around
the door I
would probably get knocked down.
Maybe
because of the burnt-out light or because it was so cold,
we didn’t seem to get as many kids this year. The ones
who did show up were all cute and most of them graciously said, “Thank
you.” As I closed the door when begging hours
ended wondering what I would do with half a bowl
of candy,
a pick-up pulled
into the driveway. This time it was a raid by the
Jaworskis, and they cleaned out the bowl. That
was OK, because I
had an extra bag of my favorites hidden in the
closet, in case
I needed
them.
I
don’t know if everyone enjoys Halloween as much as
I do, but driving around the county, especially in Bad Axe,
the spirits seemed to abound. Cemeteries popped up all over,
some right on front lawns, while ghost peeked out from behind
bushes and trees. Witches could be found flying around on their
brooms and jack-o’ lanterns were everywhere.
After all the fun of Halloween, we were brought down to earth
on Election Day, which I was happy to see come and go.
I could re-claim my mailbox and not have to hang up on unwanted
callers. Near the end of the campaign, it seemed like every
other ad on TV was a politician making promises or complaining
about their opponent. I was happy that they would be gone also
along with the endless commentaries about the election.
I’ve heard the final tally, seen who was chosen by the
greatest number of people and been told why the election turned
out as it did. But — it’s not
over. The pamphlets have stopped, the phone
has quieted,
but
all I can find
on TV is political rhetoric. Who will run
in 2012? Why will
they run?
I’ve heard who campaigned for whom and what the elected
stood for, but I just can’t understand why the media
can’t give it a rest. Please stop
the forecasting about who will run and
what their
platform will
be.
As
I see it, or at least hear it, the average person has had
enough. We don’t want to hear anymore empty promises
or election quotes. We need a break from all the hot air. I
do have a suggestion though. It’s
my hope that all the politicians who
are planning
on
running in
2012 get
together and pool the money their promoters
plan on spending on signs,
brochures and ads on TV and donate
it to the needy. I believe the dollars
spent
on TV ads
alone surly
could
have fed
many hungry families, prevented a few
foreclosures
or housed a
large
number of homeless all over our country.
I would like to send a message to the winning candidates. If
they would like to be voted into office the next time, try
to come through on promises you made this time.
I’m
sure that doing so would buy more votes than all the costly
advertising.