October 31: Happy Halloween, Facetious Snowball, Worry Wednesday

My son's pumpkin

For, the people who were shovelling away on the house-tops were jovial and full of glee; calling out to one another from the parapets, and now and then exchanging a facetious snowball--better-natured missile far than many a wordy jest--laughing heartily if it went right and not less heartily if it went wrong...

Yes, I am writing about snow this Halloween morning.  That's the reason I chose the above passage from A Christmas Carol:  it's about snow.  I woke to a couple inches of snow on the ground and my car.  Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, it will be a white Halloween in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

I have nothing against snow.  If I did, I would not live in the place I live.  I would live somewhere warmer and less cold and white.  Like Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo.  No, I like this kind of weather, when it comes after October 31st (preferably after Thanksgiving).  However, since my daughter was born close to twelve years ago and I joined the ranks of trick-or-treating parents, I have frozen my candy corn off every Halloween.  It never fails.

Thus, my Worry Wednesday is about cold, heavy, wet, white precipitation.  The precipitation of which we dare not speak.  It is going to be a miserable night for candy begging.  We will make the neighborhood rounds, whether rain or sleet or snow.  Nothing will keep my children from their appointed duties of collecting as much free candy as possible for me...I mean, for themselves.  I have explained the Daddy tax to my daughter.  That's the portion of Halloween candy that fathers are entitled to collect on November 1.  In past years, that tax has been 20%.  This year, due to the economic volatility in Greece, the Daddy tax has been raised to 22.5%.  I haven't broken that news to either of my children yet.  It's the least they can do, considering the cold work ahead of me this evening.

I have other worries this All Hallow's Eve Wednesday.  The presidential election.  The devastation on the East Coast caused by Hurricane Sandy.  The Milky Ways I bought for the trick-or-treaters tonight (I don't want to surrender my Milky Ways to the grubby little goblins).  These are important issues, as well.

But Saint Marty's biggest worry is that stuff he shovelled off his windshield a couple of hours ago.  That stuff is going to make Saint Marty's evening pretty miserable.  As Tiny Tim says, "More snow?!  Jesus!"