This October I had the best, the most spectacular Halloween EVER.
I had my first Halloween as a ” Lola ” ( Filipino kids call their Grandmothers “Lola ” ) with my Granddaughter Jemma .
My son Julio, his Fiance’ Nicole and Jemma drove to Beaver Dam and saw two incredible Halloween displays. We went to Jemma’s school for her a Halloween Party and a Dance and Fox Lake hosted their yearly “ Fall Spooktacular” in downtown Fox Lake, so even though it wasn’t Halloween yet, I got to take Jemma trick or treating after all.
She dressed up as ” Sally ” from A Nightmare Before Christmas.
Jemma as Sally Photo A.M. Moscoso October 2023
But I would have to say, the biggest kick I got was watching Jemma carve her pumpkin.
She passed up a cat pattern, a traditional pattern for a ” Puke Pumpkin ” and then she went about carving it.
She asked for a big knife but of course she got the small one that came in the pattern kit.
That didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy that first cut with her little saw- she didn’t look pensive when she started to carve- she kind of a had a smirk on her face and I know it was smirk because my son, Julio, had the same look before he pulled one of his stunts as a kid.
Jemma and Julio October 2023 Photo A.M. Moscoso
Once she started to carve, she really got into it.
Photo A.M. Moscoso Julio and Jemma October 2023
When she was done she jumped up, grabbed the pumpkin by it’s stem and she yanked the top off- she really enjoyed that. I mean, she enjoyed it a lot.
Jemma October 2023 Photo A.M. Moscoso
Jemma with her future ‘ victims’.
Photo A.M. Moscoso Jemma October 2023
I’ve written at least a dozen stories about pumpkin carvers who enjoy their craft a bit to much and I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that in real life, one of those carvers is someone close to me:
Photo A.M. Moscoso Jemma October 2023
Happy Halloween- I hope you will have as much fun as I did !
If a Witch were standing outside my window- and she was dressed from head to toe in black, if she were holding a broom in one hand and sitting on her shoulder was a cat named Harley and she said she was there to grant me three wishes, what would I ask for?
Why. That’s Easy Peasy.
I’d ask her to fly away with her cat to my neighbor’s house down the street and I would wish that she would offer my remaining two wishes to her instead.
Then I would steal down the street, shrouded in the Witch’s shadow, to my Neighbor’s house and I would watch her gobble up those two remaining wishes without chewing on them- she would just swallow them whole.
Wishes taste like caramel- something about that burnt sugar is irresistible to the tongue and people devour them before they wrapper is even off.
Maybe a few hours later, maybe a month later I would watch those two poisoned wishes blossom and bloom- and as they did I would hear a voice at my shoulder say, ” Oh you are a wicked thing, you are a crafty little devil you. ”
And I would reply indeed I am I am a wicked little thing and a crafty Devil to boot and all of us know that Mischief Night isn’t just a date on the calander- it’s a way of life.