All Hallows' Eve!

During all the years we lived in our old house the tiny city near the capital, before we moved to the country house near my small college on the hill, I loved when Halloween arrived. I would don my witch's hat, with its hanging red-eyed spiders hanging from its creepy veil, and at least one child each time would either burst into tears or refuse to come near me until I took off the hat.

But after we moved away, Halloween ceased to be what it was because our country house was on a country road with no sidewalks and no one traversed it on foot to beg for candy on a night such as this one. Ever since we moved back here early this year, I've looked forward to tonight. It did not disappoint.

In the past, we had hundreds of children who stopped by for their treat and, although this was a miserably cold and drizzly night, we still had lots of children and actually ran out of candy and had to start digging into our own "private stash" of Hershey's Kisses (my favorite).

While sitting outside with my heaviest parka on to fend off the impending chill wasn't exactly what I had in mind, it didn't dampen the fun that Halloween provides for me, as the children come by in their costumes, some store-bought, many home-made. Like Halloweens past, there was one little girl who refused to come up to get candy from me until I took off my witch's hat.

It's sad that Halloween goes by so quickly. But now I can start looking forward to next year!