October 26, 2020
Halloween/Fall is coming, do you celebrate? What does that look like? Is it different this year?
My answer for this week’s prompt has changed today from what it would have been yesterday. You see, after a glorious but short fall, winter is already here.
Growing up in Pennsylvania, a light snowfall before Halloween was part of the tradition. Our costumes would allow us to wear light jackets or sweaters when we made the rounds through the neighborhood. Ghosts were a popular choice.
As an adult, the years I spent in Oregon and Florida were different. Costumes were more elaborate and kids and parents put more effort into them, (Or spent more money on them!) and I loved handing out treats and taking our children to collect theirs. The biggest worry was was the rain. Luckily, umbrellas are a thing.
Here in Wyoming, the weather is a guessing game. After warm temperatures earlier this week, we’re in the middle of a winter storm, with 10 inches of snow predicted. I think we’ve received closer to a foot, (the drifts make it hard to tell) and it’s supposed to snow for a few more hours. I shoveled out the driveway this morning to take my son to work, but by later afternoon, it had already filled back in.
I’m not complaining about the snow. We have several major forest fires in the area, and the snow will help get them under control. The fires have shut down Rocky Mountain National Park, required evacuations, and many people have lost their homes. If you haven’t heard of them, check out the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome Fires. I mentioned a few weeks ago about some of my favorite parts of the world burning, and it’s only gotten worse.
Back to Halloween. The hubby and I were discussing whether to participate this year. (The city hasn’t shut it down.) But the numbers of people infected with the virus-that-shall-not-be-named is skyrocketing locally, and we never got that many kids anyway.
So, sadly, this year we are skipping Halloween. Oh, I’ll keep a bag of candy handy in case some brave kids stop by, but I suspect we’ll end up eating most of it. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Maybe by next year, things will settle down and we can enjoy the holiday again.
How about you? How are you handling Halloween this year? You’re welcome to share in the comments. I’ll be waiting for you! In the meantime, you can also check out what our other authors are doing by following the links below.
Until next time, stay safe.
October 26, 2020
Halloween/Fall is coming, do you celebrate? What does that look like? Is it different this year?
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I gave up celebrating Hallowe’en when our sons grew out of dressing up in ghost costumes – round about 1998! It’s all very over-commercialised here, and more about how much money can be spent in the shops rather than ghosts and witches.
It’s not over-commercialized here yet, but I see more and more people putting big money into Halloween decorations for their yards. We’re talking 6-ft tall blow -up figurines and lots and lots of orange lights. maybe that’s why we don’t get trick-or-treaters…some years we don’t even put out a jack-o-lantern.
I don’t bother either. Apparently for the last couple of years around here kids don’t knock unless they see a lit pumpkin in the window. Consequently I never buy one!
Winter weather never seems to affect Halloween here — like everything else, we wouldn’t have a life if weather dictated our activities to us. Our local governments don’t have authority to dictate private activity, so that’s not even a consideration here. I’ll be home — the church decided not to the Fall Festival (I suspect the insurance company made that choice, actually) and Brad said we should buy some bags of candy he and I like and see what happens. We’ll have 10 inches of snow on the ground by Friday, but the weather prediction suggests it’ll be warm, so we expect ghouls.
I hope you have fun!
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We don’t really have Halloween here and we very rarely get any kids. People don’t go out on the streets here, it is to dangerous with crime sky rocketing.
Lots of places have started doing trunk-or-treats so the kids still get the experience without having to go door-to-door.
I spent the longest 10 years of my life doing six months in Pennsylvania. But they do have snow figured. Halloween where it’s usually 65 degrees or above is a much bigger deal. I grew up on costumes and cards and parties and candy and minor delinquencies on Halloween. Back in the Norman Rockwell Halloween days. Not these days. Sad.
What is snow, exactly;)
Phil, I’ll take snow over hurricanes any time!
Amen. But those are coastal issues. Like the man said about Houston, “never heard a nobody throwin’ their back out shovelin’ humidity.”
Delete that dupe. I blame the iPad
deleted. And while I can take my time shoveling my sidewalks, there isn’t a heck of a lot you can do when the neighbor’s tree is threatening to topple onto your house in the middle of a tropical storm. (True story- they got a tree service out in 68mph winds to climb up the tree and and take it down.)
I know them. What we get here is tornado alley and those things, will flat out eff stuff up!
Looks like there is plenty more snow up there!
And we got several more inches after I took that picture.
I hope you didn’t have any excursions planned!
No. We’ve been staying close to home. Our favorite place to go was evacuated due to the forest fires anyway