I'll sit out front for a while and hand out some candy.
Doorbell and voices outside drive the dog nuts, I'll put him on a leash and let him sit with me.
Once the candy is gone, I'll kill the lights and try to find a decent movie to watch.
Kids are older so we don't do the Trick or Treating anymore. Eldest son has a new girl. Think they are going to watch a movie at our house. Not planning on handing out candy. Been a busy few months, looking forward to maybe just watching some shows with my wife in the other room.
Lunch Gathering at Bone Daddy's today with the Gang...DW is out of town and our townhouse complex doesn't have many kiddos; so I may keep the house dark and head to Shady Oaks Gun Range during Trick or Treat time.
The local churches have all but killed Halloween in our area. They renamed it the "Fall Festival" and have activities in their parking lots. We haven't had "Trick or Treaters" in several years. The churches say that the day is a Pagan festival and shouldn't be celebrated! How ironic that churches make most of their religious "hay" out of Christmas without a thought about the roots of the holiday!
I have always hated Christmas and made a huge effort to understand the holiday so I could live with it more comfortably. I made a large notebook of the various celebrations that were combined from ethnic regions to make what we know today as Christmas.
The irony comes because most of the composite story that make up the 2014 version of Christmas have pagan, non Christian roots! Christmas as we know it today is also a very recent development originating from just prior to 1900 to the present day.
But don't tell the churches and the discount stores about that. Let them be blissful in their ignorance!
As to what I will do today......I listened to the Bach pipe organ piece that I know as the theme from "Phantom of the Opera." WOW! What a way to start the day!
Here's a taste of the Bach piece. It is a rendition which omits the massive low note at the beginning of the piece. That sucker opens up the HUGE low note of a pipe organ and wiil rattle the windows!
I don't know if churches are really to blame for the death of Halloween (pun intended). I think it has more to do with people not being comfortable with their kids running around the neighborhood unsupervised. I think most of us can recall how during our childhood our parents wouldn't see us until dinner everyday. We were free to roam. That just doesn't happen much anymore.
In our area, the churches began a campaign against Halloween and it had great success after a few years. It wasn't accidental. It was by design and they made a full effort to kill the "pagan" celebration.
It's a shame. I was a kid in Chicago and stayed out late with no parental supervision after age 10 or so. It was fun! Dad took the screen off of the storm door and handed out goodies to herds of costumed critters.
Trick or Treating isn't dead in San Marcos. We used to have a huge blow-out party. If you came to it, you were required to bring candy to pass out. We consistently had 1,000+ kids come by. Then we moved out of the "Hot Spot" area.
In a new house so not sure what to expect. Neighbors seem to be into it big time. Prolly buy some candy and see what happens. I used to hide around the side of the house and scare the crap out of kids but may be too early for that.
I love handing out candy. I'm in a small, previously isolated subdivision. Since last year, every square inch of available land in the area has sold and is being developed. In the past, I could predict to within plus or minus 5 how many trick or treaters I'd get each year - ~60. Last year, I ran out of candy early and that sucks.
I have to estimate it pretty close because I give out the 7 oz. Hershey bars.
Yep, the kids remember my house.
I used to do more but I've gotten lazy in the last few years. I used to slip new $2 bills in the old-style foil and paper Hershey wrappers; that's no longer possible with the new packaging. I also used to have a "best costume" contest where I'd give a ticket to anyone wearing a really good costume and tell them to come back at 9PM. Usually, no one came back. I've only had one who actually came back, so she won the prize: a 5 pound Hershey bar. Obviously, that idea went by the wayside after three years of trying and only giving away one bar.
I think I've always enjoyed Halloween, even as a kid, more than most people. As a kid, I used to wear a Pagliacci clown costume; yes, I was always a nerd. As an adult, I entered costume contests at bars, usually going for the classic Dracula look with full tails, the big medallion on a red ribbon, widow's peak make-up, and a huge cape. Once, I even managed to borrow the cape that was worn by George Hamilton in the movie Love at First Bite. At the time it was owned by a woman in Houston who was a friend of a family member. Eventually I got tired of losing to gimmick costumes (Any sheetrocker who's comfortable on their stilts can put them on, thrown on a black bed sheet, say their costume is "Death", and win the average costume contest.) but I sure had fun for quite a few years.
I don't know why I like Halloween as much as I do but I always have and probably always will.