I am not one of those people for whom Halloween is a high holiday. I enjoy it, but I seldom dress up though I have fun when I do. Which begs the question — why don’t I every year?

Well, partly because I’m always a witch whether I dress the part or not.

We had punkins come trick or treating at the office on Friday. About 40 of them from a local preschool. One little girl solemnly told me, “I just love your costume.”

I miss the days when Chef Boy ‘R Mine was little. He rather enjoyed trick or treat and the whole costume thing. For his first school Halloween, the children were allowed to wear their costumes to school. That was the year of the infamous Ninja Turtle Costume — Donatello to be exact.

I don’t sew. We established that fact in the Beezelbub of Bobbinhood post. It’s pure torture. And yet, for love of my son, I sewed him a very elaborate Ninja Turtle costume complete with a soft sculpture head, turtle shell, hands, and feet. I started in August. I was still sewing the night before the school party. It was a bear. The costume used a Butterick pattern — anyone who sewed regularly will tell you how complicated those were. After the fact, I heard tell of a professional seamstress who had been hired to make one. After she was done, she banned that costume and Butterick patterns from her repertoire. I know why. It was that turtle head.

I mean to tell you that thing was a bear. Patterns guide you with images and a little bit of text. My brain doesn’t work that way. I need lots of text and just a few images. Butterick didn’t think so. I sewed that head and ripped it apart I don’t know how many times. As I recall, it was the nose and mouth that was the problem.

Still and all, it turned out pretty fabulous. I still have it. With any luck, my grandson will wear it one day!

In subsequent years, he was Dracula, the Invisible Man, and I forget all what. I need to dig out the Dracula pic — that turned out pretty good! But the Ninja Turtle rules the Hall of Fame.

In the photo above, my child is shown with the child of my friend and my boss at the time. Due to a dearth of safe places to walk from house to house where I live, we would buy a ton of candy, go to their house on the southside of Huntington, and Jeremy would trick or treat there. Our offering was to assuage my guilt at invading someone else’s neighborhood.

The southside of Huntington does Trick or Treat very well. The kid would come home with a haul.

Today is Halloween and I will arrive at my office to find the bowl of candy I used on Friday for the little ones. What a pity. I bought too much and now I will just have to eat it. Alas and lack.

Happy Halloween, y’all.