{"id":2342,"date":"2012-11-01T09:25:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T09:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html"},"modified":"2012-11-01T09:25:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-01T09:25:00","slug":"twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html","title":{"rendered":"Twas a dreary All Hallows Eve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
So Halloween was about what this year has been in the family. \u00a0Dreary, morose, melancholy. \u00a0Trying to keep up with the festivities has been a \u00a0bit like running a race with anvils tied to our legs. \u00a0Still, we tried. \u00a0By adjusting the events back to September, to replacing some of the more costly activities with activities that are, well, free, we did what we could to keep everyone\u2019s mind off our current plight. \u00a0Invoking the spirit of Bob Cratchit, we\u00a0attempted\u00a0to say no matter how dim things appear, there is still plenty to be thankful for. \u00a0And while Hurricane Sandy dumped its share of rain on the Trick or Treat parade, we were reminded that there are folks who are far worse off than we are. \u00a0Even now,we have a home (so far), and we are dry, and we have each other. \u00a0Perhaps faint blessings for teenagers, but it still means quite a bit to Mom and Pop.\u00a0<\/div>\n

Of course this is the second year without my Dad. \u00a0In addition, my Sister chose to stay with her son and his daughter and his daughter\u2019s mom rather than come over, so it was the first time since we moved to Ohio that she wasn\u2019t part of the fun. \u00a0So it was my Mom, and the Fam. \u00a0Nevertheless, against what\u00a0opposition\u00a0the elements could bring, we threw\u00a0ourselves\u00a0into it with as much gusto as possible, and I think had enough relaxed enjoyment to be worthy of a memory or two. \u00a0Below are some pics from the days leading up to the big night. \u00a0Our youngest declared it the best Halloween ever! \u00a0Plus, we planted pumpkins for the first time in several years, and that turned out to be timely. \u00a0Not the harvest that we hoped, but it did get us a few pumpkins at least, and that\u2019s worth its weight when money is tight and you have to scramble for the basics. <\/p>\n

After the rain soaked candy quest, everyone retired early to the homestead to partake in a last round of Grim Grinning Ghosts and that elusive Great Pumpkin, while drinking cider and eating pumpkin seeds \u2013 not to mention the gobs of candy. \u00a0Once the youngest was in bed, we allowed the older three to stay up and watch a lighthearted spook-fest, Ghostbusters <\/i>style. \u00a0Hadn\u2019t seen\u00a0that\u00a0movie in years. \u00a0It was at once a jaunt down memory lane, and remembering recent pictures of the principle actors, a reminder of how quickly time flies. \u00a0So here it goes, another pumpkin-filled night of frights and delights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Only because the darn tree looks haunted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
At the fun (and free) Apple Butter Festival amidst the\u00a0beautiful\u00a0foliage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The annual ghost walk, confined to local cemeteries, but appropriately eerie nonetheless<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
No, I don\u2019t know what he\u2019s doing. \u00a0Neither does his oldest brother.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Another haunted looking tree, Old Man Willow would be proud<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Our youngest navigates a straw maze at a nearby farm and country gardens<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Preparing for our nightly jamboree, rain making the decorations more subdued than usual<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The boys, already facing the\u00a0drizzles, prepare for their annual excursion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Our oldest only went around the block for old time\u2019s sake, but he went<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Beneath the rugged armor dwells a rambunctious candy warrior waiting to get out\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yes, he went as St. Francis, as part of his youth ministry \u2013 he\u2019s says folks gave him extra candy because of it<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Truth be told, for our 8th grader, it\u2019s barely a costume. \u00a0He dresses like this normally\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
And so it was over. \u00a0A reminder that not all trees are haunted, and not all bad times stay bad.
Till next time.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So Halloween was about what this year has been in the family. \u00a0Dreary, morose, melancholy. \u00a0Trying to keep up with the festivities has been a \u00a0bit like running a race with anvils tied to our legs. \u00a0Still, we tried. \u00a0By adjusting the events back to September, to replacing some of the more costly activities with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTwas a dreary All Hallows Eve<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So Halloween was about what this year has been in the family.  Dreary, morose, melancholy.  Trying to keep up with the festivities has been\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Twas a dreary All Hallows Eve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So Halloween was about what this year has been in the family.  Dreary, morose, melancholy.  Trying to keep up with the festivities has been\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daffey Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-01T09:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/files\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-awVpBMDbXzw\/UJJvmOcSRbI\/AAAAAAAACUQ\/5ZGQYM6koZM\/s400\/Haunted+Tree.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html\",\"name\":\"Twas a dreary All Hallows Eve\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-01T09:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-11-01T09:25:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\"},\"description\":\"So Halloween was about what this year has been in the family.  Dreary, morose, melancholy.  Trying to keep up with the festivities has been\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Twas a dreary All Hallows Eve\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/\",\"name\":\"Daffey Thoughts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\",\"name\":\"Dave Griffey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Griffey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Twas a dreary All Hallows Eve","description":"So Halloween was about what this year has been in the family.  Dreary, morose, melancholy.  Trying to keep up with the festivities has been","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Twas a dreary All Hallows Eve","og_description":"So Halloween was about what this year has been in the family.  Dreary, morose, melancholy.  Trying to keep up with the festivities has been","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html","og_site_name":"Daffey Thoughts","article_published_time":"2012-11-01T09:25:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/files\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-awVpBMDbXzw\/UJJvmOcSRbI\/AAAAAAAACUQ\/5ZGQYM6koZM\/s400\/Haunted+Tree.jpg"}],"author":"Dave Griffey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Griffey","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html","name":"Twas a dreary All Hallows Eve","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-11-01T09:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-11-01T09:25:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7"},"description":"So Halloween was about what this year has been in the family.  Dreary, morose, melancholy.  Trying to keep up with the festivities has been","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/twas-a-dreary-all-hallows-eve.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Twas a dreary All Hallows Eve"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/","name":"Daffey Thoughts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7","name":"Dave Griffey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Dave Griffey"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2805"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}