All's Hallowed But the Doorbell

All's Hallowed around here but the [censored--consigned to damnation] doorbell. We're not really big fans of All Hallow's Eve around here. Merriam-Webster defines "Hallow" as Function: transitive verb Etymology: Middle English halowen, from Old English hAlgian, from hAlig holy -- more at HOLY
1 : to make holy or set apart for holy use
2 : to respect greatly : Venerate

But frankly, none of us feel particularly holy on this day, and really, we blame the doorbell. How can you enjoy yourself when your dog is being driven crazy by the bell and running frantically around trying to protect his house, barking all the while? All of our dogs have hated Halloween, and the barking has pretty much caused my mother to hate Halloween. And, really, I've never been that much of a fan, either.

When I was little, I admit, I did dress up and go trick-or-treating, but really, it was for two simple reasons. Free candy and a chance to wear Mom's makeup. Other than that, I wasn't that interested--especially if I couldn't wear a costume that was "pretty." (The year Mom insisted my sister and I dress up as witches, we were pretty witches, like Samantha Stevens, with eye shadow and lipstick.) But I outgrew the Princess phase, and ever since . . . not so interested in dressing up for Halloween. There was the Halloween Parade in 6th grade when my teacher told me, "Debbie, if you don't wear a costume, you can't march in the parade with the other children." She was obviously under the impression that that would inspire me to get a costume, but she never did understand that I was an independent child and the chance to stand on the sidelines with the adults was far more appealing to me than being just one of a crowd of weirdly-dressed kids. (This same teacher used to tell my mother I was going to grow up socially warped, or something, because I preferred spending my lunch break with a book than running around with the other kids. Makes me wonder--was I possibly the first independent child she'd ever taught??)

Anyway, so it's been quite some time since I dressed up for Halloween. 1991, in fact, the first year I worked at my office. (I wore a medieval-kind of robe I'd made based on a dress from Ladyhawke, which I'd mostly made just so I'd have something warm, long, and flowy to wear around the house on cold winter nights, but really . . . I have to admit, though, that the idea of a Masquerade Ball with real, elaborate gowns and such does sound pretty appealing, but the odds of my ever being invited to such a thing (and having a suitable costume) are about as slim as my having any occasion to wear a gown of any kind. In other words, I'm not holding my breath!

What I am doing is sitting here in the living room with my laptop, on doorbell duty. Chappy's standing guard in the dining room window and not actually barking at the moment. (He barks more as a general rule than Katy did, but nowhere near the amount our dachshunds used to bark.) I don't know WHAT he thinks about all the kids coming to the door.

Cute story: We took him for a walk as soon as I got home from work today, and there were already some trick-or-treaters out. We were walking down the street, and up ahead, saw a family we know--two kids, two parents, and their dog, Ella, who is one of Chappy's favorite doggy-friends. Except she was wearing a Wonder Woman costume. Ella was standing there, wagging her tail, happy to see her friend, but Chappy stopped dead in the street and started walking forward very cautiously and verrrry slowly, trying to figure out WHAT that was in front of him. A person? A child? A dog?? She took a step toward him, and he ducked over toward me ("Mommy!") until he realized, "Oh, it's Ella!" and started wagging his tail and saying hello. Very funny. Ella's Dad (holding her leash) thought so too.

The closer we got to home, though, the more hyper Chappy got. Normally, he walks along pretty calmly on his leash--gets and excited and pulls sometimes, but is mostly good. Well, by the last quarter of the block we were walking around, his adrenalin was running high and he was not only pulling on the leash, but running back and forth in arcs in front of us. And when he saw a crowd of trick-or-treaters two doors up from his house? He started barking. Not mean barking, but excited barking, and barked his way all the rest of the way home.

Once everything quiets down tonight and he lets himself relax? He is going to be one, tired dog! Though, not as tired as Marley. And be sure to check out the very cool Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes Alison made for her twins. Not to mention the pirate hat Julie made this weekend.

Comments

[Nancy J]

Tomorrow, Nov. 1st, is the Holy Day -- All Saints' Day. Oct. 31 is the eve -- the day before...

[peggy]

I escape to my mom's for the evening. She's too far on the outskirts of town to get kids at her door. I can't stand the constant ringing/banging at the door either. I don't buy even a single bag of candy. Bah humbug! LOL My poor kid. ;) (I'm sure he'll get a few years of trick or treating in.)

[Kim]

I have to say that I am with you on this one. I love to decorate the house for halloween, but I have always hated the whole trick o treat thing (imagine 5 dogs barking). The kids do love it though, so I try to be a good sport about the evening.

[Susan]

Halloween isn't cool for pet owners. We are the grinches of Halloween. We turn out the inside lights (so they don't know we are there inside) we turn off the porch light and lock the screen door to the porch. Sometimes we even leave and go out to the movies. Last night we took the dog to wait in the car while we went to the hospital to pay a visit to my nephew. All because of the dog and the 2 cats.