Happenings around Halloween

Halloween has just past, and the door ways between this reality and the next have been officially closed for another year. Here Halloween starts a full month before the 31st of October- in fact most of the town of Poolesville is Halloween themed for the whole month of October. Last night I got to offer CANDY (the Australian translation service translates this as LOLLIES and lots of them) to the minions of fairies and werewolves - including a boy dressed as the 'Scream' which apparently had leapt off  Edward Munch's oil painting onto this young boys shoulders inspiring him to wander the streets of Poooooolesssvillleee ending up on our doorstep uttering the words that many had said before him 'tick or treat!' Ani Dara got into the spirit of Halloween providing the candy 'treats' and dressing up as a minion herself!

A week or so earlier I found myself in a sea of pumpkins outside the local dentist who apparently, along with other 'outlets', buys back the excess CANDY and ships it to California where it is shipped to overseas American service men and women.

There was little excess CANDY to send back to Australia - or New Zealand - I'm so sorry. I do have to report a consignment of NZ gold bullion - Whittakers 33% (better than Cadbury's) Cocoa Creamy Milk - that was received the day after Halloween fortunately - and I can't send that back either!

Anyway back to Halloween. Ani Dara inspired us all to make a Prayer Crow for the Poolesville Scarecrow competition. Here's some of the creative team at work and a happy prayer crow result - or should it be meditation crow.

And then of course there was the Scarecrow COMPETITION that Prayer Crow was up against! Truly scary.

As an icebreaker - or should I say pumpkinbreaker- our prayer crow team went on a 1 mile fundraising walk as part of the WUMCO Fall festival. WUMCO stands for Western Upper Montgomery County Help Inc - an NGO - started locally by Jane, Fred and Beulah - for those who needed food and clothing in the area. Here we are walking and somewhere there's a picture of my foot and you'll see Zac having to to take a breather at the quarter-way mark. Our team was Ani Atara, Ani Dara, Ani Alyce Louise, Atira (with her stately hound Brenna), Zac, Kunhla and moi. It was a beautiful blue sky day. And at the end of our strenuous-not walk we ended up next to our friend Prayer Crow for a parting picture after which debate ensued about whether Prayer Crow was a he or a she - which stands testimony to her universal nature :)

And finally, here is my pumpkin that ushered in the minions of trick and treaters to our door step. I call her pumpkin with two teeth!

And the memorable comment of the night goes to the young fairy who asked me what I was dressed up as.

Well I wasn't dressed as a pumpkin!