Last night was our little town’s official Trick or Treat night. I set out to investigate why we couldn’t have Trick or Treat on Halloween (what a concept!). Well, we couldn’t have Trick or Treat tonight because it’s Homecoming at the high school.
Alright folks, what bureaucrat decided that the perfect night for Homecoming would be Halloween? Answer: Gustav. The hurricane, that is. It turns out the Homecoming refers, technically, to the football game, not the dance. The football schedule got all pushed back in the beginning of the fall by the hurricane, and they had already set the team that would be the homecoming opponent. Therefore, when we play them tonight, on Halloween, it’s Homecoming.
No pictures were taken of little people last night, but they were as cute/scary/delightful as one could wish. I saw a distinct trend that made me proud of parents in these trying times: facial makeup as costume. I suspect about a dozen kids, over the course of the evening, arrived at the door with imaginative facial makeup and black shirt and pants. The kids had fun, they got a great haul of candy, and I praised each one as great makeup. Minimal financial output here, folks. I consider it a significant sign that this generation of parents is finally “reinventing” making do.
One fun footnote: my primary MD made a house call last night. That is, she showed up with her trick-or-treater! Dr. C didn’t know it was my house when her son rang the bell, but we had a nice chat before they went on to plunder for more candy.
From my early childhood, my grandmother, Arva, always had a small ruby glass on her table. She used it to hold toothpicks. Grandmother told me her parents (Delilah and John, she who taught me to knit) went to the World’s Fair. Grandmother was considered too young to go, but they brought her back the glass with her name scratched on it.
The distinctive, decorative glass first appeared in abundance in 1893 at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition. The technique for making this type of glass begins with the dipping of hand-blown clear glass into red glass. The thin red layer could then be scraped away to personalize with names or memorable dates.”
it was from the Chicago Exposition in 1893, not the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Oh well, at least I learned about Ruby Flash.
It is nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of the Ozarks, which right away makes my heart sing. (I grew up in hill country, and now live in delta. I have to have my “hill fix” on a regular basis.)
which proceeded to keep pace with the driver’s door. It was joined in a few yards by a second, and as we drove further into the ranch, the third large white dog. We all arrived at the parking area together, and as their owner, Linda, spoke to them a word of introduction, we were all friends. She explained that they are Great Pyrenees, and are the guardians of the flock. These gentle giants wanted nothing more than to lean against my legs and have their ears scritched in appreciation. The trouble was that they weighed about 100 pounds, and that’s a lot of leaning!
turns out to be a drowsy time for Alpaca, also. A handful of carrot slices proved to be an effective bribe for this shy one. The Alpacas fiber feels as marvelous being worn by the animal as it does in the skein. As these delightful animals wuffled my hand and hummed to me their pleasure, I was able to sink my hand into their wool up to my wrist.
I wanted you to see the incredible range of color represented in the herd. (I do apologize to these animals for featuring a shot of their posteriors, but I couldn’t persuade them to look up.) The gray Alpaca in the foreground has a white face with a large gray mark above the eye. It looks like the exaggerated eyebrow a clown might color on to his face.
Speaking of faces, this one wasn’t shy at all. Alpacas have an over-bite that is well suited to grazing, but is less efficient in gathering carrots from a hand. Look at those eyelashes! You can also see the tiny feet of the red Alpaca standing beside the white one. They only weigh about 100 – 150 pounds, so much of their size is that wonderful, light wool.
The fall colors were just starting to display in St. Louis, where we saw just a portion of Forrest Park. The park was built as part of the 1904 World’s Fair, and is bigger than New York City’s Central Park. (All together now, hum “Meet Me in St. Louis”.) The day we spent there was DH’s birthday. 
As he loves October and all things autumnal, it is appropriate to feature his day in fall color.
How better to finish off the day than with a supper in an Irish pub. We got the table by the fireplace, and the fire was much appreciated. Happy birthday, dear!
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