leafing fall

Yesterday the wind blew down off the rocky mountain front with a vengeance in the attempt to blow away autumn and usher in winter...well it is November....but to no avail. It is almost 60 degrees and sunny and many, many leaves survived the blow. It is a spectacular autumn!
I always had a romance with autumn, my favorite time of the year. New color books, new color crayons, new clothes and new beginnings. And Halloween was the kick off for the holidays ahead, still is, I noticed Christmas ads on the TV the day after Halloween, which is all Saints Day, not all sales day. O well, it is still lots of fun for me.
As a kid Halloween really began the week of October 25th. The day before Halloween was trick day and it didn't involve any treats. It was just a day for us brats to run around and get into trouble. Most I ever really did was soap a couple of windows, but it was after dark and seemed very daring. I don't recall costumes, other than stuff we borrowed, like my dad's fishing hat and pole, or mother's apron. I think we did buy masks, but I don't remember any theme. Back then folks gave out homemade popcorn balls, candied apples, cookies, etc. And we knew which house had a pellet shot gun and who's doorbell not to ring.
My favorite Halloween memory as a child was the year my friend had a party. Her older brother met us at the top of the basement stairs with a rubber glove filled with jello and he escorted us down the stairs and then through spaghetti noodles in our bare feet! We bobbed for apples, we passed apples with "chin only" down competitive lines of buddies and we played musical chairs.
In my adult years I went one year as a clown to the children's hospital where I was working and wore a red bulb on my nose all day. Another time I had to have some correction on my front teeth. The day before Halloween the dentist ground down the front four teeth on top to sharp little fangs and I worked as a witch on the pediatric unit the next day. After Halloween my dentist put nice porcelain covers on the fangs.
This year I got called to work at the school, so I put together a witches outfit and a mask and no one knew it was me. Lots of fun and lots of good foot last Sunday.
Autumn seems reluctant to end....she hangs on longer and longer and yet we know, both her and I that the cold dark nights must follow, sooner or later.