Day Sixty - Five -- Halloween

Halloween is the beginning of my favorite time of year. The air starts to get cool and crisp even in Texas and to me it marks the start of the holiday season. Not Walgreen's Christmas decorations next to turkeys and clearance jack-o-lanterns holiday season. It seems that Thanksgiving is almost forgotten in the rush from orange and black to red and green. But I treasure all the holidays and I need those more subtle browns and yellows that fall between.



So after an almost coma-inducing sugar high (no, I'm not speaking about the kids -- I love Halloween candy. The opportunity to have a Milky Way and a Three Musketeers in one bite is a little slice of heaven. Oh, and candy corn and the array of alternate flavors that Tootsie Rolls are available in and... well, you get the picture) I start pulling out sweaters and boots and packing away tanks and shorts.

And I start to dream of turkey and dressing and all of the other delicacies of the day. But it's not really the food I crave, it's the collection of mismatched tables shoved together that are never the same height but we seem to ignore because the table cloths match. I long for the uncomfortable familial pauses that start to melt as the room temperature and the spirits rise. I cherish the moment when the masks fall off and the smiles rise to the faces with less strain and more heart. That is when turkey day becomes Thanksgiving for me.

And so I try to take it slow from October 31st through the New Year. Not forgetting to say thanks between haunted house and the trip to Santa, not just on the day but all the way through.