My favorite holiday comes at the end of October, Halloween. It always has been since I was a young child. It beat out Christmas and my birthday, which ironically, happens to be four days before Christmas. The first Halloween that I can remember, I dressed up as a witch. My last trick or treat outing, I was a flower child of the 1960s, decked out in a tie dye tshirt, headband and beaded necklace. I was 16 then. I know, I’m sure I was way too old, but I couldn’t resist going to a few houses in the neighborhood for that precious candy just one last time. I did put a limit on how many houses that I went to. I figured that the occupants would be more interested in the little goblins than a teenaged hippie.
Ending my trick or treat days didn’t end my dressing up on my most favorite day. I always took the chance to dress up in costume if I had to work on that day. Witch, vampire, farmer goth girl and train conductor are just a few costumes that I’ve worn to work. Thank goodness there were no speeding tickets for me on those days.
While still living at home as a kid, Mom would sometimes make a batch of sugar cookies if she felt like she had the time to do it. I remember her doing it two or three times. The only thing special about them was the white frosting that Mom would mix orange food coloring into. It was enough to be a hit with the little ones that showed up on our door step. They would have the cookies devoured before they got to the end of the driveway.
I buy very little candy. Of course, I live along the main highway in town. I don’t get the trick or treaters like the residential neighborhoods do. Having a lot of candy around the house doesn’t do my waistline much good. Of course, living along the highway does have some advantage for me. Everyone gets a chance to see the Halloween decorations.
For several years at my current home, I decorated my tractors for Halloween. Only one or two got decorated every year. With 10 tractors, the only hard part was deciding which one I wanted to decorate!
It’s been a few years since I’ve done this. Many of my outdoor decorations have worn out or disappeared over the years. My goal now is to stock up on Halloween decorations before I start doing my display again. It’s been a slow process, but at some point, my tractors will be put back into their “spooky” service again.