RUNNEMEDE REMEMBERED

Growing up in a small town in Southern New Jersey


Thursday, October 20, 2011

Cold north wind

Yeah, I remember the first cold, north winds of many of the Fall/Winter seasons. It seemed to me that they usually showed up just before Halloween, making wearing a nice costume nearly impossible.

The conundrum was whether to wear the costume over the coat, so you wouldn't freeze, and so that your nose wouldn't run because you weren't cold, or did you wear the costume under the coat so no one could see it.

One year my mom made me a Snow White costume. I loved that costume. I wore it two years in a row. The first year, it was one of those cold, blustery days that come out of the north, denude the trees, and cause you to catch your breath because the wind is so fierce.

Mom insisted I wear my coat OVER my costume. But when I got around the corner, I pushed my coat into the bushes and made by trek to get my apple taffy, money from the money venders, and the nickle candy bars from the nickle candy bar givers.

When I got home my mom KNEW I hadn't been wearing my coat. How did she know? Moms are so smart. First of all my lips were blue, second my hands were freezing cold (and my coat had pockets so they shouldn't have been cold), but the kicker was my nose was dripping!

I was only allowed to keep the apple taffy, all other items were donated to my smaller brothers who were too young to go trick-or-treating.

And BTW, none of us of that era had a parent accompany us when we went begging on Halloween night.

ttfn

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