October. It's a long month. 31 days. When I was a kid, the end of October meant we would dress in costumes, secretly steal the the pillow cases from our bedding, and head door to door on foot for as many hours as we could tolerate being out in the cold. We didn't limit our stops for candy to just the houses of people we knew, we braved the unknown. Sure, there might be cyanide, or razor blades hiding in the treats, but we didn't care.
This October, oh so many years removed from that dangerous childhood, I stood in my yard moving pavers in the half-dark begging children passing by to take more than just one piece of candy. Store-bought. Obviously, very safe candy. Nothing that could cause immediate death or bleeding. Still, by the end of the evening I was left with a bowl more than half-full of Nerds, Take-5's, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Next year I'm going to splurge and actually buy full sized candy bars. The only kids who will benefit are those brave enough to knock on the door of a house that doesn't have a pumpkin on fire outside...and of course those who listen to the crazies who were brave enough to try in the first place.
So, it's a long month, October. Yet, I didn't manage to post a single blog thought. I've been in a funk. I thought finishing a marathon would pull me out of it; but something about running 26.2 miles in rain and a minor head wind killed my finish line elation. Then, a week later, there was the Ghostbusters episode. I've been mulling that idea around for the past three weeks, but I just couldn't bring myself to give it voice. Every time I thought about writing it, my thoughts quickly turned to the October my grandpa died and appeared to me in the form of a beautiful buck.
Okay, so this is all really weird and maybe too personal. Deenie Wimmer would probably say this is drawing the line on "staying safe". The internet is a dangerous place after all, and who knows how any of my 5 readers out there might use these random thoughts against me, but I'm going to live dangerously here. I'm going out on a limb the trick-or-treating pansy children in my neighborhood were unwilling to straddle. I'm going to hit "publish post". I'm not going to look back (except to check spelling and spaces and what-not).
2 comments:
yes! i missed you.
I too, bought too much candy with no children stopping by. Not even the kids that live two doors down. I think it is because we did not decorate. I also have been thinking a lot about grandpa. I miss him.
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