Writer's Post: Ghosts of Halloweens Past

Once upon a Halloween, I was a kid who didn't need parents to escort me from door to door, nor did I wear expensive store-bought costumes. After someone brought me a poncho from Mexico, I was a Mexican Hat Dancer for three years. Of course being a hat dancer meant planning a routine because someone would always ask me for a trick. 

Get it? "Trick or Treat." In the St. Louis of the 1960s that expression meant exactly what it said. Kids rang the doorbell, said "Trick or Treat," and gave the homeowner a choice: Give candy immediately or ask for a trick. As a Mexican Hat Dancer, I did a dance. In other years, I wandered the neighborhood with a joke to tell. 

When I mention this tradition around Memphis, people look at me cross-eyed. That's not the only Halloween culture clash from moving 300 miles south. The first time my husband left to take our son trick-or-treating, he came home and asked, "Did you give out a candy?"

My kids: Halloween 1995

I said, "Sure. I gave out lots of candy. One to this kid, another to that."

He said, "But did you give out a candy?"

I hadn't a clue that he was trying to find out whether or not we had candy left. Go figure. We've yet to give out a candy, except for the year that the neighbors threw a huge party with gazillion kids, but didn't tell anyone they were coming.

Another Halloween memory of mine was Mrs. Zimmerman's Donuts. Every year, David's mom made homemade donuts that she'd give to all the children. I never ate one. 

Kids can be quite literal, and that I was when Mom always said, "Never eat anything unwrapped." So year after year I'd skip those sweet smelling snacks that all the kids would go out of their way for. If I could go back in time, I'd eat one of her donuts on Halloween; but, it's not all bad. The memory of skipping donuts inspired my latest novel. I wonder if this manuscript would even exist if I'd eaten a donut. I also wonder if her son, who grew up to be a chef, bakes these donuts on Halloween. If he does, I just might have to go to St. Louis and ring his bell.

Wordless Wednesday: Hypnotist

At the University of Central Florida, these young women were hypnotized. They think they're in love with the wall. Teehee!

#GBE2: Ownership

This week's GBE2 topic is ownership which is perfect for me because I just got my Mother's Day gift last week. I dumped my dumb phone for a smart one.

Not Your Grandma's Phone

Here's the screen of my phone. Aren't my fall background leaves pretty? Notice the 41 unread email messages? I can't fix that problem because as soon as I delete them fifty more old emails pop up as unread. I had over 5,000 messages on my computer. Now I'm down to, 3,289. That's progress!

As I'm learning, there's a lot involved in working a smart phone. In fact, last Saturday I attended a "How to Use Your iPhone 4" class at the Verizon store. Sorry but, no S in my phone. The S dials numbers through voice commands; so in other words, when one says to a friend, "I call my boss Butterball when he's not around," suddenly Mr. Butterball is on your cell listening to you trash him because you said, "call my boss."

Pretty Duct Tape

Anyway, when I drove up for class, "Smart Phones for Dummies,"us old ladies waited in the parking lot for the kids to teach us how to use the almost latest technology. One woman shared her experiences with her first phone. She did everything she was told to do, but the phone still wouldn't work. Finally she learned she had to push a button called "Send."

I'm a step ahead of her because I know how to hit the send button. Not only that, but I can turn my phone on, off, mute it, answer incoming calls, and even take pictures. After my class, I took a picture of duct tape at Target and sent it to my daughter to see if she wanted any. She never responded, so her loss. Unless of course she reads her mom's blog.

Cool Camera

I took a photo of my husband at The Olive Garden the other night. It was one of those last minute dinners empty nesters do after the kids move out. Not sure that he knew this one was coming. The photos are much clearer than the ones I used to take on my dumb phone.

I can pull up the internet but can't see anything on the small screen without my reading glasses. As for Facebook, it won't accept my password when I try to sign on. I guess I won't be wasting time away from home.

I even used the cool technology to "face time" with my daughter in Maryland. For those of you who are technologically challenged (like I was last week), that means we spoke through picture phones. How cool is that? You want to be impressed? If it works, I'll be shocked too.  Listen to this! 

Next I know, I'll be telling the phone to beam me up! Isn't ownership of cool technology grand?