Halloween past...

I have been reading with much interest the recollections of your Halloweens and trick or treating as a child with much fascination indeed...

we lived in an average size neighborhood...

mom and dad knew most of the neighbors or of them...

it was in the mid 60's...

it was a small college town...

I got to go as a bear when I was 4...

but that was it...

and most of the candy was thrown away...

all of the apples were cut up and if mom and dad were not sure of who gave the popcorn balls...

they were tossed, too...

you see in the mid 60's in our town in Ohio...

people were mean...

very mean...

they put pins, needles and razor blades in the apples and candy bars...

they put pot in the cookies and popcorn balls...

and they put LSD in anything they could shoot a needle in...

for 2 years straight...

kids hit the ERs with slashed mouths...

on "trips"...

and it was spreading from one community to the next like wild fire...

how anyone could ever think this was funny is beyond me...

the outrage was massive...

so the city leaders outlawed trick or treat...

we had none...

when I was in 6th and 7th grade...

I got to do a couple of block parties...

it was only for the kids in that block and you could only go to homes that had been ok'd by the other parents...

so most of my Halloweens were spent with only one activity...

and that was carving the pumpkin...

that sat on the porch all alone...

if the neighbor kids didn't smash it in the middle of the night...

so I so looked forward to the parties at school...

and God Bless all those room mothers who made the best goodies for us...

the cupcakes and cookies and the treat bags...

and the teachers who decorated our class rooms with the most fun things ever!...

they kept the spirit of the holiday in our lives...

and when I had kids and moved to this small town and they did trick or treat nights...

I was so thrilled that my kids wouldn't miss out!...

of course, we checked the candy...

and threw away anything that wasn't factory sealed...

but they got to go and have fun and be a kid...

and I suppose that's why I decorate like I do...

to make up for lost time...

and bless Linus for not losing hope in the pumpkin patch year after year...

thank you to everyone for sharing all your Halloweens this year!...

it sure has been fun...

and I can so see Sherry with her pillow case full of candy...

and Ann tracking door to door...

and Rebecca as a pink fairie princess...

I so had a wonderful time with all of you!

Hugs and smooches to you!