Halloween 2006
We had cold weather this year on Halloween, with temperatures in the 40s. That didn’t discourage the trick-or-treaters, though. We had the largest crowd in recent years. They came later than usual and didn’t start showing up in large numbers until 6:30.
I left work at 4:00 to get home in time to carve the pumpkins. I found some pumpkin carving stencils in the break room at work, where a carving contest had been held, and noticed a couple that I liked — Goofy Gus and Batty Bob. I sketched them on our pumpkins freehand using a Sharpie marker, and carved them out with a small serrated knife. They turned out nicely, I think. I had them on our front porch by around 5:20. It was already getting dark.
Katelyn, our niece who is at the Kansas City Art Institute this semester, came over to help hand out candy. She wore a costume. I think she was supposed to be a flower. Like an idiot, I didn’t get a picture of her.
Some of the kids wore amazing costumes that had obviously been home-made with a considerable amount of care (not to mention sewing ability). A lot of adults were out too. Many of the trick-or-treaters were accompanied by a parent, and the rest were in groups obviously shaparoned by several adults. I particularly enjoyed seeing some of the neighborhood parents who we’ve known for years. It’s amazing to see children we knew as infants now ten or eleven years old. Some of my friends who live in the suburbs tell me that they don’t get many trick-or-treaters. I guess maybe they go to Halloween parties at the mall or something. That seems like a shame. I’m glad midtowners still show the same Halloween spirit I remember from my own childhood.
Over the years we’ve learned to shut down around 8:00. After that the crowd gets older and not so charming. We close out the festivities by bringing our pumpkins in to the fireplace, and watching a Halloween double feature while having dinner. We always start with It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, my all-time Halloween favorite. We followed that with Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, a scarier and grislier production. Still fun, though.