Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

     – Act IV, Scene 1 from Macbeth (1606) by William Shakespeare

I’m all dressed up as a witch for my daughter’s kindergarten class party today.  She told me that I should be a half-good/half-bad witch.  I don’t think I even need to dress up for that!

My husband and I were blood-chillingly frightening versions of vampires for a party on Saturday night, while my daughters dressed up as much cuter vampires for their kids’ party on Sunday.  Tonight my youngest is dressing up as Kermit the Frog.  She’s been practicing her hopping, as well as her ballet, her ferocious roar, and her Power Ranger rescue charge.  She’s a pretty diverse two-year-old.

The girls will enjoy the hay ride that will take them around to all the houses in our neighborhood for trick-or-treating this evening.  Dads usually ride along to keep an eye on the kids, eat hot dogs and candy, and drink beer.  I think they enjoy it almost as much as the kids.  The hay ride is driven by the town Mayor, who wrote the introduction for my book, Trout Valley, the Hertz Estate, and Curtiss Farm.

I’ll be home handing out candy to the 80+ trick-or-treaters who are ambitious enough to hike up our long steep S-shaped driveway each year.  I love seeing all the kids dressed up as different characters.  I put together bags of treats to hand out to the costume-bedecked hoards.  They’re stuffed with a variety of candy, bubble gum, bat rings, vampire fangs, and Halloween tattoos, which should make the effort worth their while.