What does this have to do with homesteading?

We had a good Halloween night. We went into the city and took the boys trick or treating in an area known to be hippy and artsy. SCORE! Full sized candy bars and heaping handfuls of mixed candies.

The youngest was a bat.


Some of you remember that I can't sew. I learned how to make pillows back in the home ec days, but once my sewing partner caught a sewing machine needle straight through his thumb, I was done with the scene. I did sew these wings. It took 4 hours for me to do it by hand. The skeleton of the wings are wire hanger {ah ha, re purposing in action!} and the cloth is from the lining of a wood pulp lace dress that the mice ate the wood pulp. Poor guy, kept getting hung up on railing and me.


Our middle son decided to be the Invisible Man. His was easy, dress him up all spiffy, throw on a hat, some gloves, sunglasses and an ace bandage. It was too dark to wear the glasses. The kids had no clue what he was suppose to be, they kept asking the parents. The grown-ups knew who he was, thought it was pretty cool. Probably because we didn't spend $100 on a custom, and it was an old school monster. Some days I am so glad my kids love the classic movies.

The oldest had to be a character from his favorite book, for school. He chose to be Eragon. Simple, or so I thought. My oldest can be a perfectionist, and creating his costume was worse then usual. I ended up making the pack Eragon wears in the beginning of the book. Sticks and burlap, oh my! I had to use a screw driver to sew up the side, I didn't have a needle big enough.

Even though I am not the greatest when it comes to sewing, I decide to make the costumes, not to be frugal {though that is a good reason} but to be part of the celebration. Oh believe me, if it wouldn't look to odd I would be out there begging for candy myself. There is a strange joy in the act of begging for the treats. Not to mention a great way to meet your neighbors. Last night at my mother's house, a man on tv kept ranting about how Halloween was a liberals holiday to teach there children how to beg and get things for free. I am more liberal than Conservative, it just depends on the subject, but his words were rather offensive. With thoughts like these, and the thinking that Halloween is evil, we miss out on a celebratory community. As a kid, we use to parade around our small town in large packs. Just about every house had the porch light on, welcoming and inviting the children of the community to come over and meet them. Homemade rice crispy treats, Carmel apples and trail mix where handed out. The adults knew the children by name, and would play the role of the terrified villager. I miss those days, and it saddens me that my children do not get to feel that type of community. Now it seems that adults go out of their way to ignore the children of a community. They can not tell you the child that live a block down, name. More lights are off, then on. I regret to inform you that this is why we do not trick or treat in the Conservative neighborhoods. The younger, recently on their own, the old school goth kids with their children, the hippies and the artists, the great grandmother's, these are the ones that I see in my community that understand the value of a celebratory neighborhood. Of course their are exceptions, there always is, but this is just what I see as more of a norm in my area.