TheBanyanTree: Halloween

[Margaret R. Kramer]

ON HALLOWEEN

The witches fly
Across the sky,
The owls go, "Who? Who? Who?"
The black cats yowl
And green ghosts howl,
"Scary Halloween to you!"
~Nina Willis Walter~

Ray and I flipped our living environment from summer to winter in just one
short day.  We started by removing all the bedding, including the mattress
pad and blankets and getting them washed.  Ray took our big quilt bedspread
to the laundromat where they have larger washers and it could really get
clean.

I put the flannel sheets on our bed and as each item dried, I added them on
top of the sheets.  Within a couple of hours, we had made our warm winter
bed.

The day started out sunny, but this October, after a promising warm and
clear blue sky beginning, is cursed with cloudy skies and endless rain.  It
was cloudy, but it wasn’t raining, so we got to work on getting the garage
organized for winter.  We moved the snowblower out in front of the lawn
mower, put the snow shovels by the side garage door, and took the boys’
sleds down from their hooks and put them where they could just grab them.
We threw out stuff.  And moved things around, and in the end, the garage
looked pretty good.

Last winter, it was such a mess and jammed with so much junk stuff, that it
was impossible to move around in it.  It was a major operation just to get
out the snowblower to use after a snowstorm.  But this year, after getting
the dumpster in the spring to clean out stuff, and having the garage sale in
late summer, the garage is so much better.

I dumped out all the potted plants.  I stacked up the plastic lawn chairs
and tables.  I gathered all our garden doodads and put them in boxes.  I
dragged the hoses into the garage.  Ray moved stuff around in the garage and
got these items stored inside.

I raked all the leaves from the walk onto the front lawn so Ray could mulch
them into oblivion.  I raked all the leaves in the backyard into piles.  It
just isn’t worth bagging them up and hauling them to the compost right now.
A lot of trees still have leaves and our oaks don’t drop the rest of their
leaves until spring.  We know we will have a big raking job in the spring
and we’ll deal with the leaves then.

I got out the winter bird feeders.  The birds must have been watching,
because they hit the birdfeeders immediately.  With the early morning light,
I can see the deer only raided one of the feeders last night.  But they’ll
figure it out and pretty soon, they’ll learn where all the feeders are.
People complain about squirrels, but deer are much worse.

The rain couldn’t hold off, but we kept working until all our outside work
was finished.  The decks are bare.  The gardens are hidden under leaves.  We
’re ready for winter on the outside.

Ray bought a really cool fax, copy, print, and scan machine for my computer,
but I got frustrated with installing it, so he put it on his computer.  Now
we can fax and copy our own stuff.

I got my first check from my new job, so that was a nice addition to our
checking account.  I got the checkbook balanced and paid bills.

I made pumpkin chocolate chip bars from a recipe in this month’s edition of
Everyday Food.  That magazine has a lot of great recipes and this one will
be a Halloween hit with the family.

I carved our two big pumpkins after dinner.  I didn’t think I would carve
them, but I was compelled to.  Old habits die hard.  I carved very simple
faces on them, kind of like a caveman would carve, but they’ll be OK to put
out by our front door tonight.

Today is Halloween.  I love that simple holiday.  I used to get so excited
for Halloween as a kid that I would get sick and couldn’t go out trick or
treating.  And I still get excited.  I have Halloween decorations everywhere
in the house and have some scary skeletons hanging outside.

I’ll get the vegetable soup and apple cider in crock pots and the bread
going in the bread machine before I go to workout this morning.  By the time
I come home, the house will smell of fresh baked bread and soup.  Hmmmmm . .
.

The boys will come over after the football game.  We’ll eat dinner and then
get the boys dressed in their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes.  It’s
not going to be cold or raining for treat or treat, but Ray and I don’t have
to worry about that anyway, because we get to stay inside and pass out the
candy.

And after tonight, fall begins to slip into winter.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!

http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

You wouldn't believe
On All Hallow Eve
What lots of fun we can make,
With apples to bob,
And nuts on the hob,
And a ring-and-thimble cake.
~Carolyn Wells