Spooks

Here are Maria and Louisa ready to go out trick-or-treating.  Maria is a ghost in a teapot.  True to form, she decided this many weeks ago.  She specified that the teapot should be decorated with "a vine, flowers, pumpkins, and cherries." When Maria's mother heard this, a nit-picky voice in her mind said, "but cherries and pumpkins aren't seasonally consistent!" But lo and behold, it turned out rather lovely.  Maria's mother now wishes she had a real teapot with this vine, pumpkin, cherry pattern.

Louisa wanted to be a ballerina.  Louisa wants to be a ballerina every Halloween from now on.  Maria, Queen of Halloween, declared that Louisa would be a cat ballerina.  Mami had a lion costume, and insufficient mindshare to make cat ears.  Louisa became a lion ballerina.  Louisa was happy.  She just wanted to wear her swimsuit with the tutu skirt.

Here is Pippa, squinting at the paparazzi.  She was was a Red Snow Queen.  (No, it's not a real thing.)

***

Halloween this year coincided with the Fall Workshop in Computational Geometry, which Donnie organized and hosted this year.  I wish that I were the type of pioneer wife who keeps the farm running smoothly while Pa is away selling the season's harvest, but alas I'm not.  We all get a bit out of kilter when Daddy is putting in long hours.  Maybe next year, we'll have our costumes ready more than fifteen minutes before it's time to go!

Still, our tea pot ghost was very ghosty and our dancing lion was awfully cute, and the Red Queen was happy in her carrier.

The neighborhood kids went out en masse.  That made it safer and more fun for everyone.  Our street is a favorite shortcut for people getting on and off of campus.  One parent, a veteran of many Halloweens in the neighborhood, had the good sense to bring a kerosene lamp.  The group of kids was flanked by parents who carried lights and shouted at cars to slow down.    Maria ran ahead to keep up with the older kids.  Loulou, Pippa and I trailed behind.  Loulou was a little daunted by the unfamiliarity of the ritual.  With the darkness, the wind rattling through the leaves of the tree, the  lights of the flashlights bobbing on the pavement, the strangers handing out candy, and Maria's disconcerting absence (she was safe, but out of sight with the group ahead of us)  I shared Louisa's mood.  It began to rain as we rounded in on our  house.  We were happy return home, ditch the costumes and break out the Snickers.