Trick-or-Treat Report

First: 2 teenage girls
Next: a group of 3 teenagers in non-descript costumes (one might have been going for the “80’s look” be the style of his windbreaker, but I actually think it wasn’t a costume). They also had a dog with them—a Bull Mastiff-Black Lab mix, dressed as a “ghost” (raggedy white t-shirt)
Then: pink butterfly (a cute little girl who redeemed my faith in the trick-or-treating tradition)
After that: various other groups of kids . . . little preschoolers dressed as animals, a duo from Lord of the Rings …Gandorf (which I initially thought was Moses with his staff!) and the shadowy villain from LOR.

The Treat: juice boxes—100% juice. (Judd remembers getting this as a kid and loved it because he always got so thirsty while trick-or-treating.)

Reviews: One girl exclaimed to her mother as they were walking down our path from the porch back to the sidewalk, “I got juice!”

Beatnik Jack: “That’s the coolest pumpkin we’ve seen tonight!”, from a group of middle schoolers—including one who said she was dressed as a “runner at night…it was a last minute thing”. (Costume: reflective vest, headlamp over a knit hat, plus other embellishments…creative.)

Back-up Treat: sour Skittles (tantalizingly sour!) … and one of Judd's favorite candies.
Reviews: big hit; preferred over juice, of course. I suspect word spread fast on the sidewalk which houses had the good stuff. Since Judd shopped for our treats at Costco, I was giving out 1.8 oz packages.

(Clarification: I had solo duty, because Judd worked late at the hospital—though he only found out about his schedule on Friday. We were disappointed to not commemorate our “First Halloween as a married couple giving out candy in our house”.)

Back to the Skittles . . .
There was the “transition group” where I was ran out of juice boxes and had to grab the Skittles. But then some of the first kids from this group wanted to trade in their juice boxes for candy. As the last girl was finished, one really little boy (age 4?) from the group came back up to me at the door with a forlorn look, clutching his juice box with both hands. I squatted down to his level and asked him, “Would you like candy instead of juice?” But he just shook his head, and turned away. (Some kids know that sour candy can be a wild party on the tongue!)

Resurgence of “older” participants: including a very developed, post-pubescent male with facial hair. Hmmm…

Interesting twist: 2 teenage girls collecting canned food items for their school club food drive. Young humanitarians.

Shop Closed, porch lights off – Skittles and juice are gone: turned away those still desperately seeking candy…in the 8:00 hour, a little “devil” girl; 9:00 hour, group of 5 gothic looking teenagers.

Total number of Trick-or-Treaters: 55

Emerson’s experience: not willing to keep his witch hat on, went crazy every time someone came to the door.

The Point of writing about this: there is none, really.