An Extra Hour

The end of Daylight Savings Time. I'm taking advantage of the extra hour this morning to do some catching up. This past week I was in survival mode , doing the basics and not much else. It was the first time in a very long time, that I didn't even do a thing for Halloween. No decorating , no treats, except for my near and dear ones. I don't feel guilty because there are no young children on my street anymore and most of my neighbours don't give out candy. That was one thing I found odd when I first moved here( among the many odd things)). In Toronto I always had swarms of kids, 150- 200 in one night trick or treating. I can even remember nights when one of us would have to rush out to the store and get fresh supplies of goodies so as not to disappoint anybody. I'm a real sucker for kids . I couldn't stand the thought of one coming to my house and me having to turn them away.
When my son was old enough to go out on Halloween his Dad and me took turns taking him around and one of us would stay home to give out candy. I remember the very last time he went out . He was a Las Vegas Elvis, complete with a jewel encrusted cape. What a hit he was with the middle aged ladies. They went crazy . At one house a bunch of women were having a party and when they say my Elvis son they came out and insisted on having their picture taken with him. I think he got extra treats too. I was wearing my viking costume which I still have packed away downstairs. If I can find the photo CD I'll post pictures later. His Dad always wore the most amazing costumes. One year he scared me to death when he dressed as a devil and another year as Frankenstein. Both were very convincing.

Then I moved to Hamilton and bought a house on a street were the neighbours insisted they were so friendly and sociable. It didn't take me long to figure out that meant getting drunk every weekend, including standing on the sidewalk in front of my house drinking beer. It didn't mean
doing what was right for their children. Then people wonder why their offspring turn out bad or ignore them in old age. Not that I think child rearing is some self righteous obligation. Most of the time it can be fun, like trick or treating.

Maybe by next year I will have my crazy twilight zone life sorted out and I can go back to enjoying Halloween. In the meantime I'm hanging in there. That's the best I can do.

I wanted to post this yesterday however there was a power failure . It messed the works up and took me nearly half the day to get it sorted. Ahh the combination of time, energy, and
co operative technology.