The events of my day began in the morning at my church. I was the scheduled guest speaker for our "Senior Saints" group. They are church members who are older. They meet each Friday in our church fellowship hall.
Because it was Halloween, some of the group came dressed in costume. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them all dressed up. But here's the picture of a guy we called "J.C." still wearing a key element of his costume while eating lunch. He reminded me of a modern version of one of the Beatles.
While I didn't want to go "all out" dressing up because of having to speak, I did put on my rainbow wig, big colorful bowtie, and my red sponge nose (the one I got from Aria's birthday party last April). I went as a clown.
I decided to play the ukulele and use some of my puppets in my presentation.
When it came time for my part of the program, I got out my ukulele and tuned it up. The first thing I did was share the story about what happened at the hoedown and publicly thanked Linda, who was there, for helping me out.
In hopes of making everyone laugh, I played several melodies in which I dropped in the lyrics to "Amazing Grace." I also played the Bill Gathier song "Family of God"; one of my favorite songs about the bond between Christians.
Playing my ukulele, for the most part, worked pretty well and they seemed to enjoy it but the premise of of my "Amazing Grace" routine still needs some work.
I then gave the seniors the opportunity to put aside their inhibitions and release their creativity by putting on one of my puppets and creating a voice for it. I made it optional and most everyone participated. After a few basic lessons in puppetry I had them all join in a group singing of "If You're Happy and You Know It". With that I ended my presentation.
We then enjoyed the pot luck lunch that they have every week.
It was the first time in a few years that I was part of the group's Friday morning meeting. I enjoyed it and and look forward to doing it again sometime in the future.
Before I go on let me tell you about a factor that really changed my day: the weather.
In an unusual turn of seasons for October in south central Kentucky, a weather front came in on Thursday night making it day cold, with temperatures falling into the 40s,and very windy.
As I mentioned in my last post, Trick or Treat night in Smiths Grove is one of my favorite nights of the year. I usually like to walk down Main Street mingling with the families going door to door as the kids collect their candy.
I admire and comment on the costumes and take some pictures. But because it was so unseasonably cold that didn't happen this year.
This brings me to the next event of the day, taking my granddaughter to "trick or treat".
Last year her mother, Brandi, came up with a really adorable costume.
But this year she came up yet another clever and unique outfit: a hot air balloon.
Although she found the idea on Pintrest, it was Brandi's efforts and imagination that made it what it was, very cute.
Once again this year, James & Brandi brought Aria to "The Grove" to "trick or treat" but the wind and cold really curtailed our plans.
Just like the real thing, the wind made walking in the balloon costume very difficult for Aria.
Luckily, Smiths Grove Baptist Church moved their Halloween candy give away inside to the new education wing of their church. This gave Aria some time to enjoy going around and getting candy while being out of the weather.
Once we finished at the church, got back outside and headed down Main Street to other houses, we quickly realized that our little girl in her costume and the wind were not going to pleasantly co-exist. Here's a short video of Aria's gallant but futile effort to enjoy herself.
We went down a block and a half to few more houses before everyone had had enough. We packed up the costume in the back of James & Brandi's vehicle and went back to our house.
The entire time Aria was out in her costume she was the center of attention. Just about everyone who saw her made a fuss over her. She was the most photographed trick or treater of the day. Although Paula and I didn't see it, Aria's picture even appeared on our local TV station's 10 o'clock newscast.
Back at our house we all warmed up again. I took the traditional Conner family picture to mark the occasion.
After the three of them left, Paula and I had to decide what we wanted to do for the rest of Halloween night.
We decided to head into Bowling Green to see a movie we'd been wanting to see for a while. It was an appropriate one for Halloween night: Dracula Untold.
It was yet another take on the legend of "Vlad The Impaler"
becoming the world's most infamous vampire. The movie was entertaining but not as good as we had expected.
It was more about the war between Transylvania and Turkey than it was about Vlad's descent into eternal darkness.
If you are interested in the history of Dracula in both fact and fiction you may enjoy this film. But I'd recommend you wait for it to come out on video.
After the movie we picked up dinner from Pizza Hut (thin crust for Paula and thick crust for me) and came home.
Our Halloween evening ended with us relaxing in our living room watching a Jeff Dunham special from a couple of years ago. It's the one where all his characters are dressed in different costumes.
That's how I spent October 31, 2014.
Before I close out this post I want to share a You Tube link to one of the funniest stand-up comedy routines about Halloween I've ever heard. It's by Jerry Seinfeld. I think you'll enjoy it. Think of it as my treat to you.
Jerry Seinfeld & Trick Or Treat
Hope you and your family had a safe and fun Halloween. Now it's on to November and the start of the real holiday season to wrap up the year. Where does the time go?
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