The Best Part of Halloween By Mackenzie Crowne

With Halloween just a few days away, my G’boy could barely contain his glee as he posed for this pic in his Captain America costume. I’m here to tell you, there are few things cuter than witnessing the unbound excitement of your grandbabies, and when the excitement involves Halloween? Oh, yeah, then I’m toast.

You see, I’ve always loved the holiday. Not so much for the spooky stuff. I’m a major weenie, after all. And not for the candy, either. I’ve never had much of a sweet tooth. No. For me it’s all about the costumes. Seriously, who doesn’t love the idea of dressing up as something clever or sexy, frightening or downright silly?

As a child, I would spend hours rummaging through the old sea chest in my mother’s cedar closet where the Halloween stuff was kept. I fondly recall the year I slipped into the beautiful, too-long, gauzy red skirt of the hand-me-down fairy dress that no longer fit either of my older sisters. A major score for my young heart.

I could barely wait for dusk to arrive, choking down the dinner Mom insisted we eat before we could go. And then it was time. Out the door into the darkness my siblings and I went. Along with hundreds of other neighborhood kids, we spent the next few hours rushing from house to house until our pillow cases bulged with treats – that then had to be hand checked by Dad before we could indulge.

To me, donning a Halloween costume has always been a magical experience. In fact, I was disguised as Peter Pan the night I met my husband. What was he dressed as, you ask? Tinkerbell, of course, complete with tutu, blond wig and makeup. With all of my heart, I wish I had a picture to show you, but alas, you’ll have to settle for one of me taken with my father an hour before hubs and I met.

And remember not so long ago, my post about my experience with that old lady’s sewing machine? 

You guessed it. I tried my hand at costumes for my boys - with pretty good results, if I do say so myself. They didn’t come out so bad. Then again, my guys were too young to complain. Either way, my enthusiasm for the holiday was passed on to them. Especially the youngest. 

He's the littlest caveman and that's him again, all grown up at 6'5" over there with my future DIL in their pixelated costumes. My, how costumes have changed, but I have to admit, theirs was genius. And, apparently she loves dressing up as much as he does. One more reason to love her.

I believe dressing up liberates people in a way, freeing them from some of their inner restrictions. That’s not such a bad thing in my book. What about you? Does the idea of dressing up fill you with horror or glee?

When Mac isn’t slipping into a fun Halloween costume to entertain the trick-or-treaters arriving at her door, she spends her time weaving HEAs for her characters, like Nicki Guimond Everson, the heroine of IRRESISTIBLE DECEPTIONS, Mac’s romantic suspense available from Entangled Publishing.

Oh, and be sure to check out Nicki and her sexy hero, Rhy, at the link below. 

IRRESISTIBLE DECEPTIONS BOOK TRAILER

  

That Cuckoo flew under the car! ~ by Leah St. James

I had a hard time coming up with something for this month’s theme without getting too dark. (I tend to go  dark to begin with, and the “cuckoo” topic lures me even darker.) But something happened this morning that made me think of cuckoos in a different way, and I figured I’d share.

I was driving with my son near our home, and as we approached an intersection, a small, dark bird kamikazed itself at our front grill. We were only going about 30 MPH to begin with, and he attempted to stop, but it happened so fast, there was nothing he could have done to prevent it.

Photo Courtesy of morgueFile

As we continued forward, we both checked the mirrors to see if there was any evidence of dead bird in the road—but nothing. Then we wondered if it was actually stuck in the front grille. We checked when we stopped the car, and thankfully it, too, was free of bird guts.

Then my son said, “What is wrong with these birds in Virginia?! They’re crazy! They’re always flying right at the car, or the tires! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve swerved to miss one of the stupid creatures.” (He's like his mother. He gets a little melodramatic when confronted with something compelling enough.)

Having seen no proof of a dead bird in this case, I told him not to worry about it. But he had a point. It's happened to me many, many times, and it got me wondering. Why do birds do that? Is it coincidental—they’re flying along (like three feet off the ground), and a big, old car happens along and gets in their way? Or, like my son seems to believe, do they see the car from a perch high above the roadway and purposely aim for it?

So I did what I always do when an intriguing puzzle comes along…I Googled “Why do birds fly in front of cars?” I found an online forum on straightdope.com from Julyof 2002 where someone had posed this exact question. There were a number of theories posited, like:  Birds are playful, and maybe they’re playing chicken. (:-)) Or they perceive the car as a giant threat to a nearby nest so go on the attack. 

The one I found most plausible claimed that cars create an updraft, a current of air that birds ride, like we might ride a wave in the ocean. What a neat idea, but so potentially hazardous to our feathered friends! 

I hope that little bird made it across the street just fine, but if he didn’t, I hope my car’s updraft gave him the ride of his life. (Ouch? Did I really just write that?)

Happy reading and writing, all!

-------------------

Leah writes stories of mystery and romance, good and evil, and the enduring power of love. Learn more at LeahStJames.com.