Andy loves Halloween! Often he starts asking about trick-or-treating within a day or two after the St Ignace Show. So for about six longggggg weeks multiple times a day he is saying Trick-or-treat, cheet-cheet is how it actually sounds. He loves walking in the leaves and kicking them. He loves the jack-o-lanterns, black cats, and witches mixed in with the other fall decorations like scarecrows displayed on the local lawns. He loves cruising thru the stores seasonal decoration section to admire the ghosts, warty old men masks, and the costumes of the current scary political persona. Although he is drawn to some of the moving decorations with sounds they kind of scare him. He also loves to drive around at night to see any of the lighted displays, I wonder if they remind him of the night light displays at the truck shows or if it’s the other way around. In his 33 years we have not missed trick-or-treating even one year. That means I’ve trick-or-treated 34 years with Andy and my own 12 childhood years. I wonder what the record is?
After pondering for many years, this year I finally succeeded in making a truck related costume! He can’t wear masks, or bulky items and dressing him like the local truck drivers would not look like any kind of costume, just local cold weather attire. Even though I start searching for the right costume idea a couple months ahead, Last Minute Lucy is what seems to have become the norm for that perfect idea to become reality. This year was no exception. I had finally decided to make just the logo instead of the whole truck costume, probably inspired by Andy’s obsession with the Kenworth logo, a couple of trucks featuring oversized logos and a drivers tatoo!
This costume brought a mix of interesting comments. There are a lot of truck drivers in our small community so I expected there would be at least 75% knowing what the logo represented, I don’t think it was that high. Probably about 50% knew, about 20% though he was Kentucky Fried Chicken and the rest didn’t care about the front but liked the back.
We have always trick-or-treated on the same streets I did as a kid and until just the last couple years many of the adults that helped fill my pail filled Andy’s but they had special treats for him! That always has meant a lot to me! But like everything else that tradition is changing and I hope I don’t ever have to tell him he can’t trick-or-treat any more. Many churches have opened their doors for the trunk and treats, but its not the same. The interaction between the tricker and the treater is minimal. No one request the traditional greeting, just get a treat and move on to the next. I suppose for the kids that are only in it for the candy that is ok, but Andy really enjoys the experience, at least in the nice weather years! The one change I am grateful for is no one minds that he is still trick-or-treating at his age. When I was a kid, 12 was the cut off age.
I’ve tried hard to make sure he does not have the same costume every year and will share a couple of my favorites from the past.
And this is one of my favorites from the past few years.
Halloween is over for this year and he knows it now he is asking for the next seasonal favorite thing to do,,, look at Chirstmas lights! OH, that man!
All content is copyright protected.