Halloween 2013

Last night the season of hikes, rambles and bikes officially ended with the VOC banquet.  The atmosphere inside was festive, but as we left it was raining.  It continued all night and through today, so that now everything is soaked, the cedars and roses should be happy but they don’t look it.  It’s a grey late afternoon; the only bright notes being the luminous yellow leaves that carpet the back yard and the shiny orange pumpkin left on the front porch, its screaming mouth dripping rain.

Thursday was Halloween.  I had decided to go on the final VOC bike ride but woke feeling lazy.  When I opened the blinds and saw the sun, I felt a bit more of an urge to get out, but what really gave me a kick start was opening my emails and seeing Jay’s Halloween picture.  He had said he was going to be a hobo and was less than enthusiastic about the whole thing when we last Skyped, so I really had a laugh when I saw what he finally was.  That got me up and out.  I even wore the bright orange cardigan mom and dad gave me for my birthday and tried to make myself look like a pumpkin.  I was the only one who even approached being costumed for the ride, but I was pretty pathetic.  My friend Sue took my picture but I deleted it as soon as I saw it.  Either I’m more ugly than I think or I’m the least photogenic person on the planet.  The bike ride was longer and harder than I had hoped; I walked up the last part of the longest hill.  But it felt great to be back with the gang, that is until I got really cold on the long, last leg downhill and on the flats.  I had got into such a sweat going uphill that I was shivering when we settled down in the Lumby Pub for lunch.  A hot bowl of potato and chorizo soup with a beer warmed me up.  I took pictures of some of the Halloween decorations in Lumby; they were as good as anything I ever saw in Mexico on the Day of the Dead.  When I returned home I opened May’s email to see her great leopard face, so the day began and ended with costumes from Korea.  I quickly cleaned and carved the pumpkin, phoned mom and dad to wish them Happy Halloween, filled a bowl with all my favorite tiny chocolate bars and sat down with a glass of wine and my Mexican cds to await the arrival of trick or treaters.  I had some cute ones, just enough to be entertaining but not eat all the chocolate bars.  

Jay the elf

May the leopard

A bar in Lumby

More Halloween fun in Lumby