October, 2003
Halloween, one
of my favorite days of the year, comes at the end of
October.
When I was younger, I loved getting dressed
up in a costume and going trick-or-treating. Our family
would often have a big party in our basement after
all of the kids had gotten their candy. We bobbed for
apples and played other games.
There was a life-size cutout skeleton
that hung in the doorway to the back room of our basement.
One year, as we were busy playing our games, we heard
a weird noise coming from the skeleton. The skeleton
started to jump up and down. We were so scared that
we ran upstairs to the kitchen.
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Then, I heard my mother's laughter. She had been
behind the curtain making the noise and pulling the string
so the skeleton danced.
It was a good joke on all of us.
Now that I'm older, I don't dress up in Halloween
costumes as often as I did and I don't have as many Halloween
parties as my family did, but I love to decorate my house for
fall and for Halloween.
This September and October, I've replaced the
geraniums and other annual flowers in the flower pots that
I have outside EVERYWHERE with mums. Now, I have pots of mums
outside EVERYWHERE.
I've hung Indian corn by my front door.
I've got pumpkins in the house and by the front
door and by the barn doors and in my studio and by the gate
to the courtyard. ALL of the pumpkins and gourds have been
grown in a pumpkin patch in my yard. I especially love Cinderella
pumpkins. Their color is red-orange and their shape is similar
to the shape of Cinderella's carriage.
If the nighttime temperatures get too close to
32 degrees, the outside pumpkins will be covered with blankets,
sheets and towels so that they don't freeze. If the pumpkins
freeze, they'll get soft when the daytime temperatures get
warmer. If I can prevent them from freezing, they can continue
to decorate the entrances to my courtyard, house and barn for
many more days.
The leaves have almost all fallen. But, it was
a gorgeous season for fall foliage.
Halloween night, I'll line the walkway to my front
door with glass pumpkins. Each glass pumpkin has a candle in
it. The glass pumpkins are red and orange and they have jack-o'-lantern
faces.
November 2, I'll celebrate The Day of the Dead.
The Day of the Dead is a Mexican tradition.
I'll make a small offrende so that the souls of
my family and relatives who have died can have a party.
There are some wonderful children's books that
explain The Day of the Dead. One is DAY OF THE DEAD, written
by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Jeanette Winter.
I've been working on several projects. I've finished
the artwork for GUESS WHO'S COMING TO SANTA'S FOR DINNER. (It
will be published Fall 2004.) I submitted to my editor the
first draft of a story for a picture book. (I think the book
should be called STAGESTRUCK.) I'm working on illustrations
for a science poster for "The Weather Notebook" (for
New Hampshire's Mount Washington Observatory). I've sent out
invitations to my 70th birthday party (to be held in September
2004). (This year, on my 69th birthday, Nancy Dutton sent me
a card wishing me a Happy 74th Birthday!) I've traveled to
Mexico, New York City, California, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
I've begun to think about Christmas plans and cards and presents
and parties.
Enough for now.
I'll continue my ramblings in a few weeks.
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