halloween

Upland is a strange place. It just is. The town of Upland decreed that we should all celebrate Halloween on October 29, and that trick-or--treating was permissible from 6-8 pm. So for us, Halloween is now over.

I didn't grow up celebrating Halloween, but I have grown to think it can be a fun day for celebrating imagination as well as a rare chance to interact with my neighbors and community. In that spirit, we headed to the party put on by the medic response team and the chamber of commerce at the fire station (which is about a mile from our house).

And I tried to be neighborly, I really did, but the party was just depressing. Everyone looked bedraggled, we were crowded into a windowless garage, some families had come from surrounding towns (just to get more candy?), and a few kids wore scary masks that Rosie did not want to see. So we emerged back out into the crisply cold autumn day and walked home. We played in the leaves, and we answered our door for trick-or-treaters.





After the kids went to bed, Jack and I went to Taylor to see Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond perform. After sitting through the most depressing opening performance I have ever seen, I was so relieved to see Shara come out with balloons. It was a wonderful show. Shara is a talented musician, playing as many instruments and machines as Andrew Bird, dramatic like Sufjan Stevens, and with a touch of humor, and a powerfulvoice from a tinybody, like Rosie Thomas. You should check her out.