Happy Halloween

Istiqlál (Independence), 16 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Friday, October 31, 2008 about 7:56 AM Pacific Time

Happy Halloween
Happy Nevada Day
Happy writing.com account birthday.

Mom and I have to catch a bus to do some stuff today. Since this is Nevada Day, it should be interesting to see which stores and businesses are open. We're going to the mall, then to pick up some of Mom's meds and have a prescription for me filled. I know the schools and state offices are closed today. I think the banks, or at least some of them, may be opened, but I don't know that for sure. The pharmacy is open, but I don't know whether they open at 8:00 AM or at 10:00 AM.

For some reason I'm not stressed or in a hurry this morning, which is odd since we have so much to do and have to take a bus. I'm not even sure whether the bus is going by it's regular or holiday schedule. Therefore, we may have to wait a while on the bus and transfers. There isn't any use getting in a hurry anyway, it doesn't bring the bus any sooner or get me anywhere any faster.

It's cloudy outside right now and looks a bit like it may rain. I certainly hope not, but if it rains then it rains. I can't control mother nature. All things considered, there isn't a lot of events in this world I can control. Actually, the only thing I'm in control of is my emotions and the way I react to the events in my life.

My Next Dental Appointment

I had a dental appointment this morning and the dentist show me what my new teeth will look like. My next appointment is December 6, at that time my top teeth will be pulled and the dentures put in. Then after the gums heal, the dentist will pull my bottom and those dentures put in.

I am hoping to have a full set of dentures by New Years 2009. It would be nice if I could get them before December 24, 2008. A new set of teeth would be a nice birthday present.

Random thoughts after a long day

Istijlál (Majesty), 15 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Wednesday, October 29, 2008 about 8:42 PM Pacific Time.

1. I work at a school with an oak tree shading the metal picnic tables
2. I saw three black birds today flying from the oak tree to the picnic tables
3. I saw a scarlet rose on the way home from work today
4. I think I will use the rose in a poem
5. The black birds and the oak tree I will put in a story
6. I am tired and my knee hurts
7. I am in a much better mood tonight then after I got home from work
8. I have two chocolate bars in the freezer
9. I had cafe mocha this morning

I Smelled the Roses

Kamál (Perfection), 12 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Monday, October 27, 2008 about 4:52 PM Pacific Time

I smelled the roses this afternoon. When I got off work, I caught the bus on Sahara to go to the bank. After I made the deposit, then I caught the Maryland Parkway bus north and got off at Oakey. As I walked home, I thought perhaps it was a mistake going straight down Oakey instead of transferring to the Charleston bus and getting off at Burnham.

I made the right decision because when I got down to 17th street, I turned north and went up to Bracken. The roses I smelled were on Bracken planted in front of one of the houses I passed. The roses were pink, white, and light red, they looked so beautiful, their scent attracted and energized me. Before I smelled them I was wore out and tired. I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. After smelling the roses it I made it the rest of the way home without any problems.

Someone planted the roses right next to the sidewalk in a brick enclosed rose garden. There weren't very many bushes, but they were all in bloom. I didn't expect to see roses blooming this time of year in Las Vegas. It's been a dry and hot year, so I thought all the roses had bloomed in the early spring. If I were driving my car I wouldn't have gone that route and in the car I couldn't have smelled the roses anyway.

I’m dreaming about my grandparents

Jamál (Beauty), 11 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Sunday, October 26, 2008 about 9:40 AM Pacific Time

I've been dreaming about my grandparents lately. I'm not sure why, maybe it's because the holiday season is here. Grandma enjoyed Halloween; she loved baking cookies for all the neighborhood children. Grandma would bake the cookies and wrap them in clear food wrap. When the neighborhood children came Trick or Treating, she would give them all cookies. Grandma backed two different kinds of cookies for Halloween. She would bake both oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookies. She wrapped them seperately and gave one each to children who came to the door.

Grandpa would take my sibling and myself Trick or Treating. He begin with the neighborhood he and grandma lived in. After we went to all the houses there, then he took us to our own neighborhood. I enjoyed picking a costume and going from house to house. It was fun and grandpa never let us go by ourselves. I don't remember ever going to a Halloween party when I was growing up in Blackwell, Oklahoma.

Another reason I may be dreaming about my grandparents is that I miss them so much. I don't remember missing this much at other holiday seasons, but this year I'm missing them very much.

A new week begins on Sunday

Jalál (Glory), 10 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Saturday, October 25, 2008 about 4:57 PM Pacific Time

A new week begins on Sunday. October is almost over, which leaves two months in 2008. Then a new year begins. I am weary, perhaps part of my weariness comes from walking one mile to work and one mile home. I know since I've started the two mile daily walk my knee is more painful. When I come home I'm just so tired I can't focus on anything for a while. Perhaps I should have worked up to the two miles a day, but that isn't an option.

I have to get to work and I don't have a car. Sometime I can get a ride part way to work, which helps a little. Also I have increased my intake of protein and this helps some. However, nothing seems to help the knee pain. I suppose I should feel triumphant that I can make the walk, but for some reason I don't. Im tired and wore out after I arrive home.

Monday I'm going to have to go to the bank. Fortunately, there is a bus on Sahara, I can take, but I won't arrive home until late and days are getting shorter. I'm not afraid of walking in the dark, not even in Las Vegas. I'm more worried about being so tired after the walk. True I'm 61 years old and have a bad knee, still I don't think I should be as tired as I am. Oh well, next week I only have to worry about making the two-mile walk three days instead of five.

Thursday I'm taking off for a dental appointment and Friday is Nevada Day. That means I'll have a three day holiday before having to go back to work. In November I'm taking off the 4th because I'm working the election poles. The walk to that station isn't as far from my house as my normal work location. However, I'm going to have to go to one of the early voting locations and vote before then. Early voting ends on October 31.

I feel better Today

Istiqlál (Independence), 9 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Friday, October 24, 2008 about 5:57 PM Pacific Time

I feel better today and I think it's because I ate more protein then yesterday. I also walk only a mile and a half today rather then two miles. Next week will be better, I think. I'll be off work two days, which means two days without the two-mile walk. Thursday I have a dental appointment in the morning and a doctor's appointment in the afternoon at the same clinic. I'll just stay at the clinic until after the doctor's appointment.

The clinic is about 3/4 of a mile from the house, which means less of a walk. The only problem is Mom has a dental appointment at the same clinic 1/2 after mine. I still don't have a car and I doubt that it will be back before the appointment next week.

Tomorrow we're going to the bank and then to Food 4 Less for some groceries. We didn't go to the bank today because I just couldn't face the half mile walk to the bus after the two-mile walk to work and home again. My knee bothers me when I walk on cement more then any other time. I've had a lot more protein today, so that may be why I'm feeling better.

It's Wednesday and still no car

‘Idál (Justice), 7 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Wednesday, October 22, 2008 about 4:57 PM Pacific Time

I'm walking two miles a day for five days a week. It's one mile to work and one mile back home again. Today was a better experience then yesterday, but I think that's because I've resigned myself to walking two miles a day to work and back for the rest of the year. True, my right knee still hurts, but if I keep my mind busy on the way to work and back home, then I don't focus on the knee or the pain. When I came home today, I took a nap on the love seat.

I also increased my protein intake today. I had a tuna sandwich for breakfast, a meat dish for lunch and Sloppy Joes for dinner. Tomorrow I will probably eat a tuna sandwich or a cheese sandwich, but I'm not going to eat cereal with milk. I need iron in my body to walk the two miles so cereal is out for breakfast until Saturday and Sunday.

I'm a bit behind on everything because I went to bed early last night. However, I must have needed the rest because I didn't get up at midnight the way I usually do when I go to bed at 6:30 or 7:00 PM. I got up this morning as usual at 2:30 AM.

I am walking to work this week

Fidál (Grace), 6 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Tuesday, October 21, 2008 about 4:55 PM Pacific Time

I'm to and from work this week. It's about a two-mile walk both ways, but I have no other choice. I don't have a car and probably won't have one for a while, so I have to walk to work. I had an interview last Thursday to see if I could qualify for Paratransit. However, I have to go to work so I'm not waiting to see if I qualified.

I'm not sure that I will qualify. I'm not basing this on the interview, but on a dream I had last week before the interview took place. In the dream my mother went to work with me, so I suspect she will qualify, but I won't. If I don't qualify then I'll be walking to work for some time because I don't expect to get the car back for some time.

Because of my right knee walking is painful, but not impossible. I just have to focus on other things besides the knee and my negative thoughts. Today I saw a yellow spring flower blooming. This is autumn and the flower was the type that grew from a bulb. I think it might be related to a tulip, but I'm not sure.

If I had been riding in a car I wouldn't have saw the flower because it bloomed on a corner. The flower was hidden from the street and people in cars couldn't see it. The interesting thing is I walked past that corner this morning and didn't see the flower then, but I saw it coming home from work.

The Motif of my Life

Kamál (Perfection), 5Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Monday, October 20, 2008 about 4:13 PM Pacific Time

For the past two or three years change has been the motif of my life. Change and transformation accompanied by tests, difficulties and strife. The motif has not changed, all though this year the rhythm and speed of the change has become rather erratic.

Tomorrow I go back to work after five days off. I am going to walk to work because my car is still in the shop. I have no idea when the car will be fix and I am not going to call the mechanic until Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. I am not crazy about walking to work because of the pain in my right knee, but I have no choice.

The site where I work is about a mile away from my house, while the bus stop is about half a mile away. In order for me ride the bus and get to work, I have to leave about two and a half hours before I have to be at work. I catch the bus and then I make a change. The problem is before I leave the house, I have to make sure Mom is up and has her pills laid out.

It is counter productive for me to leave the house two and a half hours early, while it is still dark out. Walk half a mile and wait for a bus that may or may not be on time and stop for me. If the bus is full the driver goes right by my stop without picking me up. Then I have to walk to work any way.

I’m becoming impatient with my download time

Jamál (Beauty), 4 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Sunday, October 19, 2008 about 12:43 PM Pacific Time

I'm going to have to start looking into getting either DSL or Cable Modem. My download and upload time with a telephone connection is become too slow. I don't think it's any slower then it's always been, it's just that I'm becoming impatient with the time it takes.

Downloads take too long. Uploads take too long. Everything takes too long. I used to think I was a patient person, until I started dealing with a telephone line internet connection. There was a time when I thought that having the phone tied up while I was online was an advantage, no longer.

I don't want instant download time, I just want to be able to download a file during the day instead of having to wait until midnight. I want my phone free to take incoming calls, even if I simply let the answering machine pick them up. I still want the phone line free for the calls to get through. I want to be able to make a telephone call while I'm online. I want an Internet connection that doesn't cut out on me suddenly and in the middle of a blog entry. Are these things too much to ask?

My grandfather was a very patient person, but I suspect even his patience would wear thin dealing with the type of Internet connection I have now. I'm going to have to figure out a way to upgrade my connection by the end of the year.

A Cloudy Autumn Morning

Jalál (Glory), 3 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Saturday, October 18, 2008 about 10:05 AM Pacific Time

It's a cloudy Autumn morning in Las Vegas. The sky is a patchwork of ash gray-white clouds and blue. It almost reminds me of Oklahoma. I haven't been outside yet, so I don't know what the temperature is or what the air feels like out there. Inside it's chilly and we're having soup again today.

My grandmother always made soup on chilly and cloudy Autumn days. She made soup from scratch. I make soup by opening cans and using soup mixes. I do mix different types of soup together, so I guess that is sort of making it from scratch. It's creative anyway. I make what I call Hobo Soup, which is mixing different cans or leftovers together.

Today we're having the soup that was leftover from yesterday. After the soup is hot, I'm going to open other cans of soup or veggies. Sometimes I make Hobo Stew, which is similar to Hobo Soup except it has more meat in it then veggies. Today I think I'll check in the freezer and see what type of meat we have frozen. I'll take it down and let it defrost in the fridge tonight, then tomorrow make Hobo Stew.

I don't remember my grandmother making Hobo Soup or Stew, she did put leftovers in her soup sometimes. However, she didn't have a specific name for it and she didn't use leftovers in soup very often.

Slowly my mood is brightening

Istiqlál (Independence), 2 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Friday, October 17, 2008 about 9:04 AM Pacific Time

It's taken half the morning, but my mood is finally optimistic. I took off work again today, this the fourth time this week. I'm going to have to go back on Monday even if I have to walk to work, which I'm not looking forward to. However, I have no other option because the car is in the shop and I have to get to work.

This morning I have written about six or seven poems. It seems almost everything I read, do or look at inspires a line or two of verse. This is unusual because normally when I'm depressed of despondent, I can't write. Therefore, perhaps things are looking up I certainly hope so.

My knee is still hurting, but not as bad as it did yesterday or the day before. It doesn't matter whether the knee is hurting Monday or not, I still have to go to work and that means I have to walk. Fortunately, the only traffic light between here and work is one of the new ones. It's one of those that shows how many seconds you have before the light changes from green to red and I have to be across the street. Las Vegas has a lot of these lights in and it appears they are eventually planning on putting them throughout the city.

The blinking hand counts
the seconds before the light
changes to "Don't Walk".

After a long and weary day

Istijlál (Majesty), 1 Ilm (Knowledge), 165 B.E. – Thursday, October 16, 2008 about 5:52 PM Pacific Time

After a long and weary day, I want to cry. My knee hurts, my legs are tired and I'm not sleepy. I'm not going to work tomorrow, which is probably just as well because I don't think I could make the one mile walk to work much less coming back.

Tomorrow I have to call the car insurance and make two doctors appointments. One for me and one for my mother. I'm going to change the clinic where I go because there is one closer to my house and easier to get to. I need to talk to a doctor about my right knee, which is in pain now. Fortunately, the pain is about a 1.5 or 2.0 on a 10 point scale; 1 being the least and 10 the worst.

I've recently (yesterday) started using a cane. I have to buy a tip for the cane, which I will as soon as I can get to a store selling them. It won't be tomorrow unless someone takes me there because I'm not going to walk to the store and back. Not with my knee the way it is. I have to go to work next week, so I'm going to have to keep from too much walking this weekend.

I'm without a car and walking

‘Idál (Justice), 19 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Wednesday, October 15, 2008 about 11:44 AM Pacific Time

I'm without a car and walking. The car is in the shop for at least the next week, so that means I walk either to where I'm going or to the bus stop and take catch the bus. I've walked to work Monday, then to the dentist office and then home. Tuesday I road with the tow truck driver to take the car to the mechanic on the west side of Las Vegas, then caught the bus to bring me back to the east side and walked the rest of the way home.

I called in to work for today and tomorrow, but I can't call in Friday. I can't afford to take off any more. I'll just have to walk it until I get some sort of transportation. I'm tired and I still have to go to the bank today. Oh well, there isn't anything I can do about it unless I can scrape up some change for the bus. Even if I do take the bus the walk to the bus stop is about half a mile, then there is the wait and the transfer.

Actually, considering the mood I'm in maybe walking would do me some good. I've been in a crabby, miserable, depressed mood all day. So perhaps the walk will change my mood or at least my focus. The only problem with walking is my right knee, which hurts when I walk on cement. Perhaps I'm over thinking the entire situation.

I Had A New Experience in an Interesting year

Fidál (Grace), 18 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Tuesday, October 14, 2008 about 6:18 AM Pacific Time

The best thing that can be said for 2008 is that it's been an interesting year. I had a new experience yesterday at the dental office. I went to my appointment extremely early because I still don't have a car and I had walked to work. I walked from work to the medical clinic where the dentist is located. I'm not sure what time I arrive because I don't have a working watch and I didn't look at the clock until after I got out of my appointment.

Yesterday was the grand opening of that clinic. There was a news crew from Channel 3 wanting to interview some of the patients, so I said yes. I appeared on the evening news last night. I've never been interviewed by a news crew or on T.V. I never expected anything like this to happen to me, but life is full of surprise and the unexpected.

I wasn't prepared for anything like that. However, I'm glad it happened because it taught me I need to expect the unexpected. I need to look for opportunities rather then difficulties. If the car were running I wouldn't have gone to the clinic early and the crew would have interviewed someone else.

Hot soup on a chilly day

Jamál (Beauty), 16 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Sunday, October 12, 2008 about 5:58 PM Pacific Time

It's a chilly autumn day
and the sun is approaching the mountains in the west
we ate hot soup for lunch and dinner.

I made soup today. I made it as close to homemade and from scratch as I can come any more. I opened three or four different cans of soup and put them in the slow cooker. Then I opened a can of cut spinach. I then turned the cooker on and let the ingredients heat together. I enjoyed it and Mom enjoyed it.

This time I used chicken noodle soup, chicken rice soup, potato soup, tomato soup and spinach. I think next time I'll use tomato soup and one of the dry soup mixes I have in the cupboard. Then I'll add some peas and corn or maybe some green beans. I like making soup this way because it doesn't take it that long to heat in the cooker. If I put it on in the morning, then it's done by noon and we have soup the rest of the day.

I still have some leftovers in the fridge, so perhaps tomorrow I'll warm them over with the soup that's left. It should give the soup a interesting flavor. The leftovers consist of macaroni and cheese with enchilada sauce and a package of taco seasoning or something similar.

It's taken me half a day to recover

Jalál (Glory), 15 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Saturday, October 11, 2008 about 1:51 PM Pacific Time

It's taken me half a day to recover from walking to the bank yesterday to cash paycheck. My knee still hurt when I walk. My knee is still stiff. I did learn something about myself though. I can do anything I set my mind to.

The interesting thing about the walk home yesterday was that I didn't let the negative and self defeating thoughts enter my mind. I simply walked and stopped periodically to drink some water. I was never so glad to get home in my life.

I'm going to have to cut down on the long walks like that. One way is all right, but going back home was a test of endurance. I did make it home. I am still tired. I don't think I got much sleep last night and to top that off we finally got autumn weather. I'm going to have to put a blanket on my bed instead of just the sheet.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, at least not in my bed. I finally gave up and came into the living room. I sit down on the love seat and then went to sleep. The only reason I can think for not being able to sleep in my bed was that I kept turning and tossing. When I turned over my knee hurt and woke me up.

Holiday Memories

Istiqlál (Independence), 14 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Friday, October 10, 2008 about 5:05 AM Pacific Time

The holiday season is here and holiday memories are arriving, memories of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I suppose I should start the holiday writing season with Halloween Memories. I have a lot of those because Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed taking my siblings and me "Tricker Treating", as well as giving out treats to the neighborhood kids.

Thanksgiving is another holiday, which has good memories for me. Grandma loved to cook and she made her own pies for Thanksgiving for several years. I enjoyed Thanksgiving at my Grandparents' house. There were all sorts of good things to eat and the entire family sit down to meals at Grandma's kitchen table.

My birthday is on Christmas Eve, so my Christmas memories are a mixture of happy and sad. Let's face I have or at least had Christmas Issues. Since I no longer celebrate Christmas as a gift-giving or receiving holiday, those issues don't seem to matter except when I go to write about them.

There are other holidays or rather Holy Days I celebrate this time of year. I'll go into those in another blog entry. For those days I'll explain why I celebrate them and how I celebrate.

This is going to be an interesting day

Istijlál (Majesty), 13 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Thursday, October 9, 2008 about 5:18 AM Pacific Time



This is going to be an interesting and memorable day transformation wise. It's going to show me what I'm still capapble of doing. My car is setting in my drive way waiting for me to have it towed to a mechanic. Yesterday, on the way home it ran out of power; since it still has gas in the tank the problem is something else. There isn't enough power to start the car.



I'm planning on walking to work and home again, unless something drastic comes up or God has something else in mind for me. Walking is going to be a test because I have a knee that gives me problems. I don't think I have any other choice but to walk. I don't have an appointment with the doctor until October 28 at 3:00 PM so I'm just going to have to endure the knee for a while.



If I want to see the doctor before the 28th, I have to go to the clinic and wait. The one I usually see a doctor is across town. If I have too much of a problem, then I'll go to the one closest to me and see a doctor there, but I'll have to wait and I'll have to get there before (I think) 2:00 PM. I'll have to call the clinic and find out.

I’m without a car again

‘Idál (Justice), 12 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Wednesday, October 8, 2008 4:09 PM Pacific Time

I'm without a car again. I still have the car, but it's setting in my drive way unable to start because it's not getting any juice; I have no battery power to turn the ignition on. So I may as well not have a car. I mean what good is car if it won't start.

I went to work today, then I paid the internet connection fee and then I came home. On the way home it last power and wouldn't go any more. I called Triple A, using a barrowed cell phone and waited for the truck to come. He came and towed the car to my driveway. There wasn't any use going to the machanic because he's across town, which is more then 5 miles away.

I know there must be a lesson in this somewhere. I will find it as soon as I can figure out how to get the car fixed. I won't get paid until Friday, so I'm going to have to wait to have the car towed to the machanic and have it fixed. In the mean time, I'm going to be walking to work, which is not something I'm looking forward to.

Candy Corn

October is here and it means I can buy candy corn. I don't see it any other time of year, but in October around Halloween I can get it in stores. It's probably just as well I can't get it the other twelve months. If I could, then I'd eat it all the time and that wouldn't be good for me.

I saw an ad in a health magazine discouraging people from eating candy corn and other sweet treats at Halloween. I know too much of it isn't good for me, but I like it. A little bit of candy corn isn't going to hurt me. I'm going to get a bag or maybe two bags of it. Mom likes it as well, so I better get two bags. That will give each of us a bag of our own.

It's interesting when I was growing up nobody ever worried about things like that. We were more interested in other stuff besides the candy we ate. Actually, at present I'm more interested in other things besides whether the food I'm eating is good for me or not. I'm not going to deprive myself of something I like simply because it isn't good for me. As long as I eat candy corn in moderation, it's all right to eat it.

It felt like Oklahoma this morning

Kamál (Perfection), 10 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Monday, October 6, 2008 about 5:14 PM Pacific Time

It felt like Oklahoma this morning. When I went out to put water in the car about 6:00 AM there was a chill in the air. It reminded me of dawn in Oklahoma. I almost went back in the house and put on a sweater.

I've lived in Las Vegas, Nevada for over thirty years and I don't remember a morning with a chill like that. Of course, I don't usually get out that early. Normally I don't go outside until well after dawn, when the sun has begun heating the desert air. However, since I have to check the water in my radiator every morning, I've been getting out early. I'm going to have to put a sweater in the car or put one by the front door, the morning air is getting cold.

The crisp morning air
sends chills through my sleepy mind:
Did it rain last night?

The damp morning air
brings to mind an Oklahoma dawn
after a late night rain.

I inhale the desert's aroma
and wonder at the similarities
of Autumn dawns.

A Cloudy Autumn Day in Las Vegas

Jamál (Beauty), 9 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Sunday, October 5, 2008 about 6:00 PM Pacific Time

Today was cloudy, not completely overcast, but cloudy. We've had clouds for several day now and I think it rained last night. I did hear some odd noises before I went to bed. However, I didn't think it was thunder and I didn't see any lightning. When I went out to the car this morning the finder was still wet.

There have been a lot of strange and weird noises in this neighborhood lately. I can't seem to tell where they are coming from or what they are. Some of the noises I heard last night was probably thunder. I don't know what the other noises were.

Normally this is a quiet neighborhood at night. Some of the noises I can identify. For instance, the neighbor down the street has a Harley-Davidson I can identify that noise. Actually, I don't think the sound of a Harley is noise, it's more like music. Well it's music to my ears anyway. I like the sound of a Harley, it's a comforting sound. I think I'll write a Halloween story with a Harley in it, I haven't written a story about a Harley in some time.

October brings Memories of Halloween

Jalál (Glory), 8 Mashiyyat (Will), 165 B.E. – Saturday, October 4, 2008 about 3:14 AM Pacific Time

It's the first Saturday in October, the first full month of autumn. October always brings memories of Halloween and my Grandma Newland. Grandma and Grandpa lived in a much simpler and safer time. Grandma began preparing for Halloween seven days before the event.

All the living kids within three or four blocks of my grandparents called them Grandma and Grandpa. Halloween was a big event for Grandma, not as big as Thanksgiving or Christmas, which required more preparation, but Grandma gave Halloween a good chunk of her time the week before.

Grandma would bake cookies and put them in plastic sandwich bags to give to the Trick or Treater's on Halloween night. Every year Grandma always did this and she would stay home on Halloween night to pass the goodies out while Grandpa took us Trick or Treating. If she were alive today, she couldn't do that, but then everyone felt safe accepting and eating homemade treats from the neighbors.