Kids and parents braving virus

Halloween is O.K. in southwestern Ontario in the eyes of both the municipal and the provincial governments. It is not such an easy slam dunk for a lot of parents and their children. I'm amazed that we are getting any Halloween trick-or-treaters at all this year, but we are.

These two little ones are new to our court and have so looked forward to Halloween. Their parents are taking them on a limited run about the court and going a short distance down the street itself. To put everyone at ease, my wife is using tongs to hand out the candy and chips. And, of course, she pulls on a mask immediately before opening the door.

Halloween school bus ride was special

 

School buses, almost unknown in the city when I was a boy, are seen almost everywhere today. Every morning and every afternoon hundreds of buses fan out over the city picking up and dropping off students. I think we walked more when I was a boy.

Today the ride home was different, one might even say special. The bus driver had Halloween treats for every child and the inside of the bus was very simply decorated. A school bus must be safe inside -- just in case. 

The children were delighted. Kids who were regularly picked up at the school by their parents, took the bus home Friday. The driver was prepared for the extra riders. No one was disappointed.

What does RIP mean, gug?

"What does RIP mean, gug?" My granddaughters were curious about the meaning of the three letters appearing on many Halloween displays in the neighbourhood.

It means "rest in peace," I said. It is a pleasant wish that the deceased will find tranquility in the afterlife. "Oh," the little  girls replied quietly.

I don't think it had ever occurred to the little girls that one could be anything other than tranquil after death, very, very tranquil.

We may have to have a little talk. The oldest one didn't sleep all that well last night. 

Ghosts and cemeteries adorn Canadian homes

 When ghosts and cemeteries adorn Canadian homes, it can only mean one thing: Halloween.

Have Halloween lighting displays appeared in your neighbourhood?

 

In the daytime this display not so great but at night these Halloween lights add colour to the neighbourhood. It was not until the 1960s that large numbers of folk began the tradition of stringing rows of small, coloured electric lights along the eaves of the home. The practice caught on and today's LEDs are both efficient and inexpensive.

Now, the practice of stringing small electric lights on bushes, trees and eaves around the home is beginning to show signs of becoming a Halloween tradition as well as more and more homes are illuminated at night.

Some kids like simple decorations light on the horror

  

On Halloween night, follow the white cats to the front door of this home to be rewarded with some candy and chips. 

My granddaughters are not fond of the homes decorated with fake body parts and oodles of simulated red blood. But a couple of white cat cutouts stop the two little girls in their tracks. The cats say fun. The other displays leave the two kids feeling uneasy.

Isla loves the googly eyed door

Folks seem to think that ugly scenes of death in someway celebrate Halloween. It wasn't like that when I was a boy. These googly eyes spotted by my youngest granddaughter are a bit of a throwback to those times now somewhat faded but clearly not gone. The googly eyes on the door attest to that. Simple silliness with no dark side still has followers.

Isla saw these eyes from our car as we drove past on our way home. She dragged me back to get this picture. And she was awfully happy to have gug get the shot and to share it on the Internet. 

I'll another shot or two from our walk in the coming days.

Cheers and stay healthy!