Oh what fun

  Just a normal update. I got through the first slog through Roja, where I needed to make sure all the chapters together. Now all I need to do is make sure that all the bits and pieces that make up the chapters do the same thing. Nothing much else has happened.

Oh, wait. Halloween.

Our neighborhood had a couple of other houses decorated, but most weren't. My idea to use chem lights in the balloons didn't work as well as I thought it would. When I tested them in the darkened garage, they looked fantastic, but my neighbor has a really powerful floodlight, which washed the glow out. Oh well. So I got Applebones put together, and my wife took a few pictures, then I parked myself out in front of the house and waited, sitting completely still.

Shortly before it got dark, the first batch of kids came up. They ooo and ah at me, but then go right to the door. As my wife opens it and begins letting them grab the candy, I turn and face them, but since they're all looking at Claudia, they don't notice. As the last one gets his loot, they all turn to go. That's when one of them notices I'm not in the same position that I was a minute ago. He stops to look, and everyone else does, too. When I reach out with my stick fingers that are a couple of feet long, the whole bunch of them shriek and run away as fast as they can. Not too bad of a beginning.

We got a decent amount of trick or treaters. Most of them in groups, and most with a parent or two along for the ride. One man saw me move when his son didn't, and he called the boy over to him so he walked within my reach. He laughed when I reached out and his son yelled. One mother screamed along with her kids, and when Claudia asked for them all to pose with me so she could get a couple of pictures, she put her children between herself and me. The next mother screamed when I moved the first time, and when her daughter looked away from the door to see what the fuss was, I extended a hand toward her, and she howled like she was being skinned alive.

We got one bunch of older boys who stopped by, three of them with hats on but otherwise without costumes. Claudia commented that they might be a bit old, but handed out some candy. As they walked off, they said 'Goodnight.' I waited until the door was shut, then I said, 'Goodnight.' One of them stopped walking and said, 'Who said that?' I didn't move or say a word.

One boy who came in with a group seemed to like my costume so much that he announced to me that he wasn't afraid. Then he poked me in the chest and tried to lift my mask to see if I was real. Maybe next time I should have makeup on under my mask.

Other than going to a friend's party on Saturday, that's pretty much the week. Verdict? Best Halloween that I've had in a long time. Can't wait for next year.

If could ask one thing of you folks, please get out and vote. People fought and died to give us that right.

Still writing.