Lynn Lawler's Creative Artists' Blog

Hello Everyone. Thank you for stopping by last week for my ‘Awakened by Fate‘ blog. It was a huge turnout and you are the best readers. I can’t thank you enough.

It is that time of year again when the colors change and the temperatures drop. No more triple digit weather this year. Now we are into fall and it is amazing. We finally had some long-awaited rain and now my backyard is happy. One thing I love about this time of year is Halloween. I have loved this holiday since I was a kid going out trick or treating each year around my childhood neighborhood. I remember in high school, I dressed up as the grim reaper complete with a tight-fitting rubber mask. It was funny how none of the other kids outside didn’t know who I was.

Our neighborhood has an elementary school on the next block and each year all the kids come pouring in to gather their treats. We get about 300 kids and it is a blast watching them walk up to the door in their costumes, coming to collect their treat. We usually have candy to pass out. We get all sorts of kids, including high school kids since we also live near a high school. We get kids dressed in Hogwarts uniforms which I feel is the cutest next to a little girl who was dressed up as a fairy. They are all polite and say thank you.

This year, we have decked out the house with our pumpkins and our lights, not mention the scary music we play. We keep our door open until about 9:00 p.m. or until our candy runs out. We have a big plastic pumpkin in which we fill to the brim with candy. I, of course, pick out a few pieces for myself, but the rest is for the kids. We love to carve our pumpkins and put a candle inside to make them into jack-o-lanterns. We also have pie pumpkins which will be made into either pumpkin bread or pumpkin pie.

Our neighbor has a big inflatable pumpkin in front of her house. She puts up balloons which she gives out to the children. It is great that my street is involved with this holiday as it is important to the kids, as I know from my own childhood.

Last year the World Series was on during that night, so of course, we had our tv on as we passed out the treats. One man showed up with his kids with a radio. He heard the sounds coming from our tv and asked how the game was going. It was fun talking to him briefly about the sport as I gave his kids candy.

This year the Dodgers are in it again, playing the Red Sox. This weekend they are at home at Dodger Stadium. I’m hoping for a huge win tonight. It has been a rollar coaster for me during this years post season. The Dodgers almost didn’t make get their division title or the National League Pennant. Whew!

It is now the beginning of the holiday season and for this year I’m focusing on gratitude and what I can do to be of service. We participate in an annual blanket drive for the homeless. We help out by bagging and tagging the blankets and taking them down to downtown Los Angeles to distribute to the people there. I’ll tell it is a rush helping them out and I got a lot of God Bless’s last year. I’m looking forward to this year’s drive.

How about you? What are you grateful for and what types of service work are you participating in this season?