October

Today is the first day of one of my favorite months of the year. I love the climate, the colors, and the activities of October, from high school football games to pumpkins and gourds decorating houses, to the beautiful leaves that set the sky on fire - its a month of rich and wonderful treasures for the eyes and the soul. I love October.

I especially like the fact that I no longer have to think about Halloween costumes. I have to say, Halloween is one of my least favorite days of the year. When I was young I loved dressing up and doing the whole trick-or-treat thing but after raising four children and having to come up with new costumes every year I'm so over it! We couldn't afford to buy costumes and thirty years ago the store-bought ones were pretty sad anyway so it was always on my shoulders to make things the kids would wear. I made red crayon costumes out of felt for my girls, turned two boxes into a pair of dice for my boys, and spent many hours agonizing over how to create whatever it was they wanted to be as they got old enough to make requests. My biggest dilemma was when my two boys wanted to be the "ghostbusters" characters from the movie - I could manage the outfits and made backpacks out of boxes so they looked pretty authentic, but one insisted on being "the black ghostbuster". How was I going to do that? I certainly didn't want to insult anyone and his request was sincere - but wouldn't "blackface" be considered a bit racist? Oh the things we do for our kids!

Thankfully, no more Halloween for me and I'm glad. So the only thing I regret about October is that it's over too soon. But today it's all still ahead of us and although time flies by way too quickly, there's plenty to look forward to.