Tagged With: Halloween

Neighborhood Kids Go Bananas!

Neighborhood Kids Go Bananas!

Neighborhood Kids Go Bananas!

Yes, banana suits seem to be in this year. These four neighborhood kids are in my mother-in-law’s neighborhood, actually, not ours.

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Punkin Head Scarecrow

Punkin Head Scarecrow

Punkin Head Scarecrow

When I cut down the tree in the front yard I left a tall stump. I cut it down fairly high so I’d be sure the height of the tree wouldn’t reach the driveway. I actually cut it higher than I should have done and it would have been a lot easier if I cut it about a foot and a half lower. Nevertheless, there’s a five foot stump in the front yard. It wasn’t long before I came up with the idea of dressing it up for Halloween. So, I took a length of wood and screwed it down on the stump with my jacket on it. I added some old work gloves and a pair of jeans that should have been thrown away but were not for some reason (or more likely for no reason). On Sunday I bought a pumpkin and last night I carved it. This morning I found some red Christmas lights and put them in side, adding a hole in the back of the head for the cord.

I took a few pictures this morning but I really wanted to get pictures at dusk, so the light in the face would stand out a bit more. I brought the pumpkin back inside for the day to keep it safe. Unfortunately, I didn’t say anything about that and Cathy put it outside later this morning. When she got home a few hours later, the squirrels had found it and chewed its face pretty badly. The hat helps hide some of the damage but he looks a bit like he’s been punched in the mouth. But I’m still pretty pleased with how it turned out. I’m not a big holiday decorator, so this is a big deal for me. Of course, punkin head is a name that my dad used for my brothers and me and that I used for Dorothy, so now there’s a punkin head in the front yard.

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Halloween

Our Neighbors

Our Neighbors

It’s been a while since we did a lot for Halloween. When Dorothy was little, we’d usually go out with Rick, Melissa, and their two girls in their neighborhood. We haven’t done that since Dorothy was 11. She went out a few times after that when she was in middle school but going out trick-or-treating has been a thing of the past for a while now. When we moved into this neighborhood it wasn’t filled with children. We’d get a handful of groups of slightly older kids, assuming we even bothered to stay home for them. Sometimes we go to one of our parents’ houses and give out candy there, instead.

Our Neighbors

Our Neighbors

Recently, however, the neighborhood, particularly our immediate neighborhood, has turned over and there are a lot of kids. We have really enjoyed having them all around us, although I must admit it sometimes makes me feel a bit old (I suppose that’s mostly because I am old, but whatever). It was clear that there would be more kids out this year and there were. I took a few pictures of the neighbors on both sides of us, all dressed up and ready to go. We’re really fortunate to have such nice neighbors and we love to be able to hear their children playing.

We sat in the driveway and gave out candy to over 50 kids. Next year, assuming it isn’t raining, we’ll probably bring the fire pit around and have that going. One other cool thing was that we had a barred owl (Strix varia) perch in our tree while we were out there.

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Jack-O’-Lantern

Jack-O'-Lantern

Jack-O’-Lantern

Did you know that in 17th century Britain jack o’lantern was a name for lantern-carrying night watchmen? That’s what Webster says, anyway. Reading there I also found out that the first known use of jack-o’lantern in print is in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, The Great Carbuncle (1837), which I happened to read earlier this year. Note that the carbuncle in the story is a deep red gemstone, not an abscess. Anyway, this pumpkin was carved by one of Anna and Greg’s sons and was greeting folks outside their front door. I think it’s a pretty well executed jack-o’lantern.

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