Rainy Days and Halloween Humor

Rotten weather here today.  I have to agree with whomever said that mutts are generally smarter than purebreds: our dog categorically refuses to go out to do her business in the rain except in cases of dire emergency.  She takes a few steps out the door, looks at me as if to say, "Are you kidding me?  It's wet out there!" and scurries back inside.  When she absolutely can't wait any longer, she runs to the nearest patch of grass and then immediately returns to shelter.   I can relate to this: I don't much like rain either.  And gloomy cloudiness sends me to the nearest bright light source for solace.  I will never move to Seattle!

Making plans for Halloween today.  We will be attending a party at a friend's house and then going trick-or-treating in her neighborhood, which celebrates this holiday in style and with great attention to detail.  To the extent that there are some houses even Thing One--the oldest child in the bunch--refuses to approach because their decorations completely freak him out!  (I have to admit that the one with the shrouded 'body' hanging off the balcony, the dry ice clouds in the yard veiling the faceless druid-type figures moving silently through the bushes and the open hearse in the driveway creeped me the heck out last year too.)

Which reminds me of a favorite story: the year Thing One was two, we went trick-or-treating in a different neighborhood with a couple of my girlfriends and their daughters, who were also both two at the time.  We'd been coaching the three of them for the whole afternoon on the process, since they were all essentially new to celebrating Halloween at that point: i.e., you knock, they open the door, you say "Trick or Treat," they give you candy, you say "thank you," etc.  We thought they all had it down.

Then we got to the first house.  They knocked, but completely froze when the stranger inside opened the door and looked down at them.  From the steps, one friend prompted them: "What do you say?"  To which all three replied, in unison, "Please?"

At least their collective early training in manners held up under stressful conditions!