Memories in the making!

This place doesn't quite feel like home for me at halloween time. Oh, I wish I could see the leaves and admire their beauty. Romp in them. I never raked them, so I won't go there! I miss the leaves changing but Florida has a lot of beauty, my favorites are the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean. So its not the natural surrounding. I can focus on something different. Its something else.

I thought with my mother being here this year and Binyam being off work that it would be more of what I wanted. It wasn't really. I was wondering why, when it suddenly dawned on me that I just plain ole flat out want to be a kid again.... When I say my best memories in childhood were from Halloween....I really mean it.

Rembering back, I can't even remember most Christmas's (which i am sure would shock and horrify my parents who scrimped and saved....sorry peeps....) No, it was Halloween. From the start of the day, going to school knowing there would be a party there. Someone's mom would have brought cupcakes and there would be crafts! Then during school the anticipation building of what the evening would hold!!!! Going home knowing the buzz and humm of the evening's rituals. Getting the costume's together, painting our faces. Ordering pizza. Then finally setting out on a journey of epic returns! Walking away from our house wondering what route my dad would lead us on and if it would yeild high returns on our efforts. Sometimes we passed by houses that were family friends or school friends and I'd be excited to see people we knew. Then there were the random houses, walking up to them wondering what amazing goody they beheld.

The real highlight of the evening was coming home. Looking in the bags to see all the loot. Me and my brothers parked ourselves strategically on the floor, enough space away from each other to dump our bags out and look what we got. Then the trading began. I have to admit it was a supreme goal of mine to manipulate my brothers out of the "good candy". Like I could somehow emit brain waves that caused them to not like chocolate! Oh, I tried. I thought I was successful sometimes, but looking back now all three of us probably thought our Jedi mind trick were working on each other when in actuality we were simply just trading candy we didn't like for stuff we did! Oh, but there were the deals!!!!!!!!! "I'll give you ten Smarties for a Charleston chew." Oh, Charleston chews.....YUM. None in the bag year. I looked. Sad year.

I miss my childhood sometimes.

Halloween was one time I don't have even one marred memory. I guess I am trying to recapture my memories with Ella, hoping like heck that the day was good for her. It was good, I suppose, just different. I did feel like with my mom here that I was comparing Halloween there with Halloween here. It just doesn't compare and there-in lies the difference. It doesn't need to compare. It needs to be what it is for Ella. Oh, comparing......that is a whole other topic. Nothing good comes out of comparing. Just make it what is is and the best what it is that it can be! All in all Halloween evening, not the best in the world. Not a lot of houses with lights on, I felt a little like people didn't want to be bothered and that is sad to me. The houses with lights on were spread across what seemed to be a fourteen mile radius. (ouch, my feet!). But, Halloween over all - excellent. We did Seaworld's Spooktacular, a church fall festival, Campus Crusade's fall festival.....a lot of memories. A good times!!!!!!!!!!