In our family, I leave it to my Annie to do the carving of pumpkins. First, given the fact that I am on blood thinner, I would scare the entire neighborhood in a major way if I mistakenly cut myself while cutting through the thick orange skin.Cooking isn't a problem, as long as I'm careful, but on occasion I catch a finger a bit, and that is not a good thing.
Secondly, Annie is the artist, and if my own children inherits any type of ability in that direction, they definitely get it from her. I can't even draw stick figures. I can, however, write a very good poem. That's not a Halloween thing, unless of course we're taking Edgar Allan Poe.
This one was my personal favorite. The whole skull and crossbones thing was fun. The worst part was trying to get a candle through the small opening.
There was a bit of wind that evening, and it even began to rain around 8:45 p.m., and I noticed that the other pumpkin had stopped flickering.
I take out the candle, light it, and I try to get my hand through the opening, which was too small for my hand. I gripped the small two inch container. But then I simply dropped it into the hole, and it worked well. The only problem was that no one stole pumpkins out of the neighborhood this year, so now both remain on our doorstep for a bit longer. I will light them as long as the candle still has enough wick and wax to do it.
The day began easily. Considering that Jack insisted on watching a movie with me the night before, he was easy to get out of bed. We had been able to find a Star Wars costume he loved on our return from our last road trip in California.
On the morning of this parade, he refused to open his eyes, when I spoke about breakfast. "You've got a big day," I said. "That Halloween Parade is going to be fun."
Suddenly he opened his eyes with a start, sat up, and looked at me. He was excited--very excited.
Jack's friend's loved his costume. And given the sudden movement just as I snapped the picture, it blurred. It actually works, if you think the friend at his left is a ghost instead of a Zombie, but if Hollywood can take liberties like they do with history, I officially do the same thing. Zombies are phantom-like today.
Jack loved having his picture taken, and the plastic helmet was OK, but he looked forward to the evening, when he would be wearing the fancier one we found in Target. Did I mention that he had a laser blaster to go with the whole "get-up?"
We left Jack at school to enjoy the class party they had planned, and then in the afternoon, we picked him up at the closing bell: just as the class was on their way to go to the bus.
Idaho Falls had something special planned for children that evening. At the river, a large number of business vendors took places within trailers, and each one gave out candy. It sounded great. The reality was it was a long wait.
The line stretched at least 800 meters, if not longer, and it took about one hour to arrive at this point. It was here where suddenly you turned left and began stopping at trailers. Z 103 had speakers there, and someone was doing voices and playing music from the last five decades. The Purple People Eater and a few things like that were songs from the radio in the late 50's. I remember my mother listening to it, before we had a TV on the ranch.
They had gymnasts, who did some routines there. There were also small businesses that do martial arts in town. They all had displays, demonstrations or cards to introduce themselves--besides the candy of course.
I found park benches along the way to sit for a bit. We were there for at least two hours or more, so my legs started bothering me. Just standing is sometimes more difficult that moving. I took this picture when my Annie and Jack approached. Jack is sporting his new helmet and laser rifle.
The worst part was waiting in line with people who seemed to enjoy the moment of standing in line with mobs of people. They wouldn't push their strollers. Their children wandered about ahead and behind them, and to make matters worse, people and their children behind us began crowding ahead of us.
This place at the river is beautiful, and I marveled at it, until I noticed who was there. Banks, investors and one particular politician, who created the whole educational mess when he briefly served after Dirk Kempthorne's appointment to something better and more profitable.
No one else seems to be able to afford the rent to open a business there.
This is the view of the vendors, handing out candy. It was an incredible gesture. They spent extra time, when they didn't have to do it. It combined for an incredible time for children and families.
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