The last week of October went by in a blaze of fall festivity. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't actually Jack's first Halloween. It just felt that way, because of how aware he was of every detail this year, how much he really did participate in each event...
We were blessed with perfect weather for Halloween, 65 degrees and sunny. We spent the entire evening outside, carving our remaining pumpkin on the porch, pulling together Jack's "little devil" costume as we went (who knew that red sweatshirt would make the perfect costume!!), passing out candy and hanging out on the porch. Jack was delighted to be allowed free reign on the porch and proceeded to make his pants absolutley filthy, crawling around. He also discovered that it was not only possible but, indeed, a really fun thing to crawl down the stairs, onto the driveway, and all the way to the sidewalk. He repeated that process at least 5 times. It's amazing the child doesn't have 2-inch-thick calluses on his little hands by this time...
The highlight of the evening for Jack and I was definitely our walk down Somerton. We had decided that we weren't going to actually "trick or treat" with Jack this year, as he can't actually walk up to the doors yet, and it would be just too obvious that we were looking for handouts for ourselves. But, about half-way through the official trick or treat hours, Jack's tolerance for sitting peacefully on the porch was at its end, so off we went, Jack the "little devil" driving his red push car, to check out the action. Turning the corner onto Somerton was like entering a Norman Rockwell painting. That is, if Norman Rockwell had painted Halloween. It was exactly what Halloween should be, the sidewalks bustling with families, children lined 5 to 10 deep at doorways, parents waiting and chatting amiably at the curb. Houses glowed with the light of jack-o-lanterns and fire pits. Jack was entranced, and kept busy alternately waving to the children and pointing out all the pumpkins. Everyone was very taken with him. Of course. I am already excited to trick-or-treat "for real" with him next year. Perhaps next year we'll bring our pumpkins and camp out on Somerton, perhaps on the porch of someone who is out of town, so that we can really feel like part of that idyllic neighborhood...
Post-Jack's bedtime, Melinda and Will came over, Phil and Katie joined us, and we ended the evening with a fire and political discourse in the backyard. By discourse, I mean we all sat around and agreed with one another. I do love my like-minded friends.
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