Tonight is Halloween!
As it has been since we moved to the homestead, Halloween has meant making some hard decisions. It takes a fair amount of energy and interest to hike a mile and a quarter to the road, then drive to town to trick-or-treat. The first year, we had a family party at home that was a lot of fun, even though the plate of the evening’s treats fell and shattered, mixing shards into the treats and making them inedible. In subsequent years, Aly went trick-or-treating with friends in town, often spending the night with them afterward.
This year we’re very aware that this is Aly’s last Halloween at home. Next year, she’ll be celebrating the season with other college coeds. While she’s still enthusiastic about trick-or-treating, her friends aren’t. Our plan is to go to the community Halloween party and see if she can recruit some one for an impromptu trick-or-treating outing. I intend to tag along. Her target area is Fort Seward, the former army post. Many of its residents are artists and puppeteers, and some years they create incredible haunted houses and shows for the kids. I want to see these, and unless I take friends’ kids some year, this is my last excuse.
Otherwise, I’m ready to support Aly’s last Halloween celebration in Haines, even if it means staying out late and hiking home, possibly in a rain and wind storm after the tide falls low enough around 10:00 pm. A walk through the woods at that time of Halloween night seems like an appropriately spooky activity.
And, if I may beg your indulgence, I’ll take this one last chance to promote my book of dark short stories before Halloween passes. Shy Ghosts Dancing: Dark Tales from Southeast Alaska is available as an e-book in two formats. The hard copy is getting close: I submitted corrections yesterday, and should be able to order a final proof tomorrow!