Have you seen the ghost of John?
Long white bones with the skin all gone?
Ooooh, oooh, ooh, ooh
Wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on?
Long white bones with the skin all gone?
Ooooh, oooh, ooh, ooh
Wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on?
For any Caledonians reading this blog, you can all attest to the fact that Caledonia knew how to have a Halloween. (...and because of Mrs. Neal's music class, we all know that song above and can't go through a Halloween without singing it as a round!) Despite the eggings, destruction of huge hard earned leaf piles and whizzing paintball pellets, in town proved to be THE place to be if you wanted a fair amount of loot. Mind you, we never walked around with overly elaborate costumes or even fancy trick-or-treat bags. It was all about using a pillowcase to hold your candy and your creative way to stay warm without looking like a stay-puff marshmallow. It was all about participating and being part of the fun! For me, when I was younger, it was about Mrs. Emery and the haunted house. I'll never forget waiting in line to get in and then thinking "What the heck am I doing here???" When the haunted house was no longer, you could still count on Mrs. Emery to give out copious amounts of goodies. Her house was one of the best in Caledonia to visit and every Halloween I still think about it. I'm very fond of those days and grow more so as I get older and watch my own children find the thrill in Halloween.
I lived out in the sticks. Pretty ironic since the village of Caledonia was not what I'd call a bustling metropolis. But I couldn't walk to school let alone the local convenient store. I couldn't pop home to grab some forgotten homework or my lunch. My house was surrounded by corn fields and it took nearly an hour for my bus route to get me to school. So, in order to get lots of treats at Halloween we had to be timely. That meant...driven. Yes, in a car. Mom would schlep us up and down the road so we could hit the houses close to home. If we hadn't been driven, my street alone would have taken all night. I'm not kidding.
I've drawn one conclusion about Halloween in London since we've now had 4 of them.
It's nothing like Caledonia.
I can't really imagine what it'd be like for American expat kids living on the outskirts of London in a town similar to the size of Caledonia. I'm sure they suffer through October with nothing to look forward to. I say that simply because even in the city, it's hard to find an entire block where even half of the houses participate. It truly is hit or miss and this year it was mostly a miss. When we did venture upon a house that was decorated with slightly more than a lit pumpkin...they were American.
So last year my goal was to make the house look wicked. And it did. This year, my goal was to make the house better than last year. And again, it did. It's nothing like some of the houses in Caledonia but we're getting there. My neighbors think I'm a complete loon and perhaps they're right. But what's the fun of Halloween if you can't get a little crazy?
Next year?? Scaffolding comes to mind...and a little bit of Mrs. Emery's flair for the spooky & dramatic!
A close-up of the front during the day
The house lit up at night. We had creepy music playing and loads of sweeties. We even had to go buy more!
The thing on the roof was a "cooler" and the biggest pain to blow up. I'm just not that full of hot air.
Kerrie's pumpkin
Our funny little bush monster. Someone stole one of his eyes the next day. Boo.
Little Chunker as the ghost of John!
The Dunker ladies..Sloane insisted on Batgirl!
Our little wicked pirate chick. Talked about a stacked 7 year old. Look at those guns!!
I lived out in the sticks. Pretty ironic since the village of Caledonia was not what I'd call a bustling metropolis. But I couldn't walk to school let alone the local convenient store. I couldn't pop home to grab some forgotten homework or my lunch. My house was surrounded by corn fields and it took nearly an hour for my bus route to get me to school. So, in order to get lots of treats at Halloween we had to be timely. That meant...driven. Yes, in a car. Mom would schlep us up and down the road so we could hit the houses close to home. If we hadn't been driven, my street alone would have taken all night. I'm not kidding.
I've drawn one conclusion about Halloween in London since we've now had 4 of them.
It's nothing like Caledonia.
I can't really imagine what it'd be like for American expat kids living on the outskirts of London in a town similar to the size of Caledonia. I'm sure they suffer through October with nothing to look forward to. I say that simply because even in the city, it's hard to find an entire block where even half of the houses participate. It truly is hit or miss and this year it was mostly a miss. When we did venture upon a house that was decorated with slightly more than a lit pumpkin...they were American.
So last year my goal was to make the house look wicked. And it did. This year, my goal was to make the house better than last year. And again, it did. It's nothing like some of the houses in Caledonia but we're getting there. My neighbors think I'm a complete loon and perhaps they're right. But what's the fun of Halloween if you can't get a little crazy?
Next year?? Scaffolding comes to mind...and a little bit of Mrs. Emery's flair for the spooky & dramatic!
A close-up of the front during the day
The house lit up at night. We had creepy music playing and loads of sweeties. We even had to go buy more!
The thing on the roof was a "cooler" and the biggest pain to blow up. I'm just not that full of hot air.
Kerrie's pumpkin
Our funny little bush monster. Someone stole one of his eyes the next day. Boo.
Little Chunker as the ghost of John!
The Dunker ladies..Sloane insisted on Batgirl!
Our little wicked pirate chick. Talked about a stacked 7 year old. Look at those guns!!
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