A Halloween Review: In The Rain With The Usual Suspects

/ Ally Bean

The Usual Suspects waiting on the deck behind the house before going on stage in front of the house. 

~ ~ • ~ ~

IT DRIZZLED THEN RAINED HERE last night, starting at about 6:00 p.m. just in time for the trick-or-treaters.  The temperature was in the 60s, about as warm as I’ve experienced in late October.  The night was in a word, unusual, and our reduced trick-or-treat count proved it.

In years past we’ve had anywhere from 120 to 220 beggars at the door, but this year our head count was only 60 kids.

Unheard of.

Despite the rain and because of the warm temperature, Z-D and I sat outside on our front stoop where we plopped ourselves onto two chairs he’d brought around front from the deck in the back.

There we waited to hand out candy, holding umbrellas over our heads, watching a slow parade of cute, polite kids shuffle their way across our yard, ignoring the precipitation.

Trick or treat!

~ ~ • ~ ~

YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING WHY we didn’t stay inside our house, waiting for the kids to ring the doorbell.  And this would be a sensible thing for you, my gentle readers, to wonder.

But the thing is, and in my world there’s always a thing, here in Beanlandia our doorbell, a diva, is broken and has been for a few weeks.

From a distance it glows and looks useful, however if anyone pushes it the middle button thing pops out and dangles down from an electric cord.

Kind of dangerous.

The doorbell has one ring in it before it has to be manually reconfigured and placed back into the wall where it resumes its role as a pretend working doorbell.

Hence, maintaining its integrity is a bother that we avoided by sitting outside under our umbrellas in the rain.

As one does.

~ ~ • ~ ~

AND WITH THAT GLIMPSE INTO the life and times of one woman, one husband, one house, I’ll end this wordy post in which I’ve discussed the weather, trick-or-treaters, and doorbells gone bad.

Scintillating, eh?

In fact, should future historians whilst looking through old personal blogs want an example of a blog post that is the epitome of flapdoodle and twaddle, I do hope they find this one.

Because if there was a point to what I said here, I dunno what it is.

Other than to say, Halloween has come and gone.  And we have a lot of leftover candy in this house.

Only 60 kids…

105 thoughts on “A Halloween Review: In The Rain With The Usual Suspects”

  2. Last night, our neighborhood was a ghost town. We don’t have a lot of little kids but think the older ones, still at the age to trick or treat, don’t want to be bothered. It’s definitely like it was when we were growing up.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Laura, I didn’t think of the diva doorbell as being a good trick! If it weren’t the for the fact that silly thing is attached to electricity, we’d have stayed inside. But it didn’t seem prudent to chance a kid getting shocked in the rain, so outside we sat. 2? That’s it? I’m amazed.

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  4. Warm and pouring here, too. Very few kids out; very few porchlights on. Pretty much a Bust. (Our doorbell has been mute since about 1990 when the wiring caught fire inside the wall. That’s a story for another time!)

    Liked by 1 person

    • nance, there were enough families and kids out to make it fun, but it wasn’t our usual Big Candy Party On The Street scene. I don’t even want to think about a doorbell causing a fire, knowing that our little diva might do that.

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  5. Because of where I live now, I never have kids come to the door. I miss that! I wanted to go out wandering the nearby neighbourhoods to spy some Halloween action but didn’t want some hyperactive parent to think I was some kind of creep out to steal a kid or their candy. I have to live vicariously through people like you guys…

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deb, yes, you were smart to not go out looking for kids to follow around a neighborhood. In today’s world, you’d not be welcome, for sure. Pity you don’t live closer to me, I’d happily give you the opportunity to hand out candy for two hours while sitting on our front stoop in the rain. 😀

      Liked by 1 person

  6. I don’t even know if there were any kids around our neighborhood at all. Many of the churches here have”trunk or treat” that all the kids go to. Our almost three year old grandchild went out in their neighborhood last night and had a blast. Many people go all out there decorating with grave yards, a giant blown up black cat, boarded up windows, caution tape, etc.
    I bet you and Zen Den enjoyed just sitting in the warm drizzle watching the kids.
    Strange thing about your doorbell! Can it be fixed?

    Liked by 1 person

    • beth, the only churches I know of around here that do trunk or treat are the Mormon ones. This neighborhood used to be all decorated for Halloween, but not so much anymore. Most neighbors were like us with a pumpkin or two– and that’s it. We did enjoy watching and laughing as kids, especially the little ones, made it to the front door. The doorbell needs to be entirely replaced and it’s a weird size which means finding one will be… [wait for it]… tricky!

      Liked by 1 person

  8. I can honestly say this is the one… and only one… reason I dislike living in the country. Our head count for trick or treaters last night? Zero. It’s beyond depressing. The houses are just too far apart here to warrant attention from greedy candy seekers. *sob*
    That being said, if you’re waiting for a flapdoodle and twaddle award, get in line sister! All of my posts should have those tags.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. No trick or treaters in our neighborhood . . . so we went to the Costume Contest at the Chamber of Commerce on the island to check out some fun and funky looking kids. From there, to Happy Hour at the Chart House. From there to a Spooky Halloween Party on Bridge Street (with spirits aplenty). No rain. No umbrellas.

    And . . . no doorbell either. Ours died so we covered up its carcass with a tin wall sculpture of a colorful crab. Now visitors have to knock. 🙄

    Liked by 1 person

    • nancy, you had a fun night! I’d like to wander around on Halloween night if it were warm and dry outside. As long as there were plenty of spirits… and spirits.

      Having no colorful tin crab to use as cover for our diva doorbell, we’ll be replacing her soon enough. Although I do like your innovative problem-solving idea…

      Liked by 1 person

  11. it was warmer than usual and rainy here too. but that didn’t stop our neighborhood trick or treaters. I think some of the younger kids didn’t go as far, but the older kids just sucked it up and went with it. At least it wasn’t snowing

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    • teacherturnedmommy, I’m inspired by your neighborhood kids and their spunk. I thought we’d see the usual hundreds, but it was sparse. Of course once we realized how slow it was going to be we upped our handout from one to two pieces of candy per kid.

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  12. Our trick or treat night was last Friday. We went to dinner so there were no kids. Our neighborhood is unpredictable. Some years we haven’t had any (despite having a few kids live on our street) and other years there have been many. We gave up the ghost and go to dinner every year. We got a new doorbell a few years back. We couldn’t hear our old one when we were on the back porch. The new one is so freaking loud that it terrified cats and humans when it goes off. I’ve been know to sprint to the front door when I see a car pull in the driveway just so they don’t have to ring the bell! You never can win! Sorry about all that leftover candy. Hmmm….what to do with it….

    Liked by 1 person

    • Kate, up until this year this neighborhood has been a mecca for trick-or-treaters. And their parents who often walk around the streets with wine glasses or beer bottles in hand. It’s a party, ‘ya know?

      Our doorbell is loud enough on the inside, but it’s a peculiar size outside, which means we’ll be ordering online [again] to get one that fits the space. I’d sprint to the door too if the bell was as loud as yours. How annoying is that?

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Our neighborhood is one that people from outer areas drive into to trick or treat so we sit outdoors simply because otherwise we’d be standing with the door open all night. We had PERFECT treating weather (not to rub it in but we usually have sleet or snow so it was kind of magical) and gave out over 700 pieces of candy. I don’t think we had that many treaters – I think my husband is a bit heavy handed – but it was a good Halloween.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Katie, how fun for you to have perfect trick or treat weather. Some years we do. It used to be that kids came by carloads from elsewhere, but not anymore. I don’t know why. 700 pieces of candy is a lot of candy. Your husband is a good soul for being so generous.

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  14. I’ll take any Hershey’s or Kit Kats or anything of the sort that you have left. My costume is/was A Working Adult Dreaming of the Weekend (that last part demonstrated only by the look in my eye).

    I think this post will be sought out by historians in the future for its use of flapdoodle and twaddle.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Sometimes a “blog post that is the epitome of flapdoodle and twaddle” is the best kind. I live in a very rural, dark area, with houses rather widely spread out – not a good trick or treating area, so no doorbell rings here (mine is wireless, so no fire risk there, in theory at least).

    Liked by 1 person

    • Carol, why thank you! Usually this is one doozy of a busy street filled with hyperactive kids and inebriated adults. But this year, not so much.

      I hadn’t thought about wireless doorbells. They weren’t around when we had this house built. Will look into that. Thanks for the idea.

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  19. We only had a few trick or treaters here too, mainly because we live in the “poor” side of town so all the kids want to go over to the “rich” side where they give out better candy. Also, on our block maybe 2 out of 20 houses have lights on so when the kids look down the street they see little opportunities so they pass on by. I try to buy my husband’s favorite candy so when there is leftover, I’m less tempted to eat it…note I said TRY and LESS TEMPTED. Your flapdoodle posts are always worth my valuable reading time 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Janet, you gotta give it to the kids, they know where the best, most easily procured, loot is! Almost everyone on our street turns on their lights and puts out at least one Halloween decoration. I know what you mean about deciding what candy to buy so that there’s less temptation if/when there’s any left over. Thanks for the compliment. I lurve to write flapdoodle-y posts, but fear bothering my readers with twaddle! 😆

      Liked by 1 person

  20. We live in a condo development, which really shouldn’t matter because there are young kids here, but for whatever reason their parents don’t have them go door-to-door. So they must do it elsewhere. In spite of this, my wife bought at least six bags of quality candy and filled them in a big jar near the door to hand out. Of course, no one came. I’m no rocket scientist, but I suspect that was her point all along. Hmm. – Marty

    Liked by 1 person

    • Marty, it’s funny that the kids in your condo complex don’t come a’begging. When we lived in one there were oodles of kids at the door because they came from streets over, knowing that condo front doors were closer together thus said kids could get more candy faster. Enjoy your jar of candy. It’s just a big kid at heart, right?

      Liked by 1 person

  21. Only about 10 kids. It was cold and lightly raining most of the evening but I swear it was snowing last year and I had 60-80 kids. I gave out giant handfuls of candy and if the little suckers would have stood still they would have got 2 handfuls. Halloween has come and gone. The big holidays are lurking around the corner.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Zazzy, interesting that light rain kept the kiddos inside, but snow brought them out! There’s a message in there, I’m sure. Once we realized how few kids we’d be seeing, we doubled up on handing out candy to the brave wet ones who showed up.

      Big holidays, lurking. Please don’t remind me. Not my favorite time of year, ‘ya know?

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  22. I entertained some neighborhood candy givers by calling children dressed “Halloweeners.” They laughed. Probably they hadn’t heard that expression before, one my mother used. Why did they laugh? Maybe they were thinking of “weiners.”

    Very entertaining, as usual, Ally!

    Liked by 1 person

    • marian, oh I like your “Halloweeners” idea. Having once been a kid myself, I’m sure the kids were thinking exactly what you think they were thinking. *tee-hee*

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  23. I admire you for doing that! I had many fewer trick or treaters than normal here too (30ish?) and have WAY too many left over Kit Kats, which I (unfortunately) love. Yesterday was a rather windy, and drizzly evening but warmish. I think more kids are doing malls, churches and other indoor places. I enjoy the tradition of door to door trick or treating, so I will miss it if it goes away.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Margaret, I agree. I like the door to door tradition of trick or treating. It’s about the only time I ever see all the kids around here. I understand why parents take kids to controlled indoor places, but the kids are missing out on something neighborly and social when they do that. We have leftover Kit Kats, too. They don’t call to me, so I think Z-D will take them to work to share there.

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  25. I loved your post, especially the word painting of two adults sitting outside with umbrellas to give out candy. Marvelous! We had one Halloweener, as you call them. I asked him ahead of time what his favorite candy was. No guesswork there!

    We have a new wireless doorbell. It worked for about a month. At least your electric doorbell can show that it is defunct. Ours fools people all the time, but the neighbors know to knock loudly.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. I think this was my eighth year I was passing out candy, and I’m not sure the total kid count for those years even reaches 60. I answered the door four times for about 10 kids Wednesday. Our rain held off until 8:15, but I was the only light on my street and apparently most of the kids out and about didn’t want to make the walk even though I was giving out heaps of unwanted candy. Nor, I guess, did my squirrel o’lantern on the porch spark enough curiosity…

    Liked by 1 person

    • evilsquirrel13, at least you tried. If the kids weren’t intrigued by your squirrel o’lantern, what more could you do? We usually have about 60 kids per half hour so this year was odd for us.

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    • Judy, I knew someone who tried the basket of candy approach and she watched from inside her house as one greedy boy dumped the whole supply into his bag, tossing her basket aside, leaving her candy-less. Her experience has dissuaded me from ever trying that.

      Liked by 1 person

  28. I must be in a category of my own. I don’t like Hallowe’en and never have. I just don’t ‘get’ it.

    So I was thrilled when Husband was actually home for Hallowe’en this year to answer the doorbell and give out candy. HE likes Hallowe’en and stocked enough candy for the Apocalypse in spite of my advice to the contrary.

    In the end, we had about a dozen trick-or-treaters – which was a banner year for us … and enough chocolate to push me into sugar shock. I’m not sure whether to thank him or not.

    … but to sit in the rain under umbrellas on Hallowe’en? Wow. The possibilities.
    It was an unseasonably warm evening here and I have visions of dragging our gas fire pit to the front and sitting around the fire with a drink. Where were you BEFORE Hallowe’en to inspire me? It would have been epic 😉

    I wonder if I’ll remember this for next year?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Joanne, you know if you don’t ‘get’ Halloween then it’s a good thing that your husband is around to keep up appearances. Wouldn’t want the neighborhood kids to get wind of the fact that there’s a Halloween apostate in their midst. You might end up with way too many ‘tricks’ on your property.

      It used to be that lots of people around here would drag their fire pits to the end of their driveways, sitting there while imbibing adult beverages as they handed out candy to the urchins. But that trend seems to have come and gone. I cannot say why.

      Who knows if you’ll remember your inspired comfortable idea for getting into the Halloween spirit next year, but if you do… think of the epic blog post you’ll have!

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  29. I went to the home of some friends whose kids are 8, 6, and 4. The kids were excited to go trick or treating. And there were tons of kids in their neighborhood. The doorbell rang and rang for hours! The warmer weather was a draw. There were years of cold temperatures or rain on Halloween.

    Liked by 1 person

    • L. Marie, I can imagine how excited those kids were. I was in the grocery a few hours before trick or treating started and there was a little boy about 6 y.o. who could not stop moving, jumping around, asking his dad when would it be time to put on his costume and go out. This kid was a hoot. I’m glad that you got to experience that kind of energy times three.

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  30. Your pumpkins are adorable. You get extra credit for staying outside to see the trick or treaters! We live in a condo complex of townhouses, and we get zero trick or treaters. There are two VERY cute little girls next door, and I asked their mom to please bring them by. I heard them out front talking to another family with 2 little ones, prior to going trick or treating, and decided I could double the number of kids from 2 to 4 if I went outside, so I brought my candy bowl to them. They were very happy, and I was very happy to get to see them all dressed up.

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    • J, thank you! Zen-Den carved them. He has a gift for that. How sweet you are to seek out little kids to give candy to. We used to live in a condo complex of townhouses, but we were very popular. So many doors so close together meant that kids could cover ground quickly! I love seeing the costumes and I love watching the tiny ones try to figure out what the heck is going on.

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  32. I’m imagining a picture of the two of you sitting on the porch with your umbrellas and candy–better yet, a cartoon-like sketch. It was good of you to sit out there for the kids.

    Our city closes a few downtown streets to traffic on Halloween, and the merchants give out candy. This downtown parade and candy fest has become so popular and so easy that it really cuts down on neighborhood trick-or-treating. It’s also a great way for adults and dogs to show off their costumes.

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    • Behind the Story, we enjoyed sitting outside, if truth be known! The kids were a hoot to watch and fresh air is good for us, so win-win.

      I think your city is smart to do Halloween like it does. It sounds like great fun for all concerned. I love to see dogs in costumes, which’d make it even better.

      Liked by 1 person

  33. I loathe halloween nights and have been known to pretend I’m not here, hands over my ears to the doorbell ringing… Then when we moved, our first Halloween here, the doorbell rang, and I answered it (well… how bad could it be? I mean, really? It wasn’t London where kids could be really unpleasant and possibly smash your window, great ‘trick’ or what?) and these two tiny kids from a few houses down the street, were standing there, cute as pie. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten to get anything in for kids and so all I could give them was an orange and a couple of fruit tea bags. Since then – no rings on the doorbell. I guess, in a small rural hamlet, word gets around fast!

    The doorbell: you can get battery-operated ones. Just stick the bell-push to your door (after taping up the old broken one) and have the ringer inside.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Val, if there was any destruction involved in our Halloweens I’d hate them too. Ours are about as benign as can be and the cute is off the charts. I’m laughing about your treats that I think were rather nice, but like you said: word gets around fast.

      I didn’t know about the battery-operated ones. Will look into that. I’ve let this project slide for a few weeks because I can’t be bothered. But with the holidays coming I suppose I should do something.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Eilene, the kids around here are adorable and usually have something to say about our jack-o-lanterns or candy. They also all said “thank you” this year which was made me like them even more.

      Liked by 1 person

  35. Now and again some idiot stranger walks right past the front door like he’s a friend of ours and rings the bell at the back door and the whole family freaks out, especially the dog.
    When we lived on post, I had the doorbell disabled almost immediately. Neighbor kids rang it all day and it woke the toddlers and drove the dog insane, which drove me insane, and we couldn’t be having that.
    Doorbells are fairly interesting, topic-wise.
    We don’t get trick-or-treaters. Not a single one in five years. We have a bowl of candy just in case, but The Mister will eat most of that on his own.

    Liked by 1 person

    • joey, no trick-or-treaters? I’m sorry. They’re lots of fun to watch and talk with. I’d have the doorbell disabled, too, if it became a nuisance. In the sense of kids ringing it for snorts and giggles. Ours is just a basic “I’m worn out” nuisance, so diva doorbell will soon be replaced. Once I get my backside in gear and do it.

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    • Sheryl, when we first moved here, our first Halloween was 80 kids. Neighbors warned us about what to expect, so we were ready. Over the years the numbers have fluctuated from 120 [or so] when Halloween is during the week to 220 when Halloween is on the weekend. So 60 kids seemed like nothing to us, but I take your point. Before we lived here, I’d never experienced Halloweens like the ones we have here.

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  37. I’m laughing so hard at the description of your doorbell, Ally. Ours hasn’t worked properly in years. It’s a drama queen. If you don’t hit it in just the right spot (and that spot is not not where everyone thinks it is), it doesn’t ring at all. While I was painting in the entryway and had the cover off of it, all it would do was gargle in the back of its box. 😀 People here just resort to pounding on the door or standing there in silence willing me to know they are out there. Hee!

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  40. We had pretty good weather for trick or treat. It was in the forties and a little brisk, but that’s nothing for NH in October. I took my son and we joined a family in their neighborhood, met up with some more of his friends. I love Halloween, everything about it, so I’m feeling sad that you only had 60 kids. But rain does put a damper on outdoor events!

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    • Kate, weather in the forties is perfect for Halloween. Our weather was too warm, if you ask me. And the rain was weird, too. I’m happy that some kids showed up, but not our usual onslaught… which I enjoy seeing at the door. I’m glad you had a fun [normal] night.

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