You Let Me Down

Please forgive me for a moment of homesickness.

 

 

I knew there would be a time that Thailand would let me down. And I guessed it might be one of the holidays. But I hadn't thought it would be Halloween. Its not really Bangkok's fault. Not at all. In fact, we had an amazing time at a Halloween party just a few days ago. Our Community Liaison folks threw a great bash for the kids. They even let me help out, so I obsessed created a photobooth for the event and it was a huge hit! I am looking at over 200 pictures of adorable kids which I wish I could share, but without permission of the parents it just wouldn't be right. So you get a few shots of my boys instead. One marvelous neighbor of ours donated hundreds of dollars of candy and treats to the cause. And another took pictures at the booth. And other volunteers joined in-I think that was the part I liked the most.

 

I even got to boss the Marines around for a small shining moment.

 

 

And then I got to boss the boss around for a moment too. We needed someone at the spider ring toss, so my man happily stepped in. It doesn't hurt that he is great with kids.

Isn't he wonderful?

 

 

We still have lots of Halloween festivities to enjoy this week. I believe my photobooth will be making an appearance at my son's school for their Halloween Bake Sale and Fundraiser. Our neighborhood will have a handful of very enthusiastic trick-or-treaters on wednesday, and we are preparing to make that as special for the kids as possible. And after they go to sleep, we will step down the street to partake in the crazy adult festivities on Soi 11. I'm even thinking of organizing a spooky kids movie night at our house to round off the week. But still, its not the same.

 

 

Not at all.

When we lived in Plymouth I looked forward to that evening every year, and the over sixty kids that would stop by our door for candy. I miss it. Oh, how I miss it! My parents would come over to help out so there was always someone at the door while we took our own kids around. We took this seriously. Each year we bagged at least sixty bags of candy and trinkets and still ran out! I miss the chill in the air and the smell of leaves on the ground. I miss visiting our wonderful neighbors, who always had something extra special set aside for our boys. We have great neighbors now too, and six great kids that live in our 'compound.' I just miss the old place. I miss the gentleman next door who would leave lovely boxes full of fall vegetables from his garden at our front door. I miss grilling them on our back deck on cool afternoons, with the sound of the ocean in the background. I miss the neighbor's dog, who passed away after we moved to DC.

 I guess I just cannot deny that there is something so special about Halloween in New England. The weeks leading up to it are filled with cranberry, pumpkin, and all sorts of harvest festivals. Farmers market stocked with pumpkins and apples just begging to be made into pies. Spooky decorations wherever you look. Its not the same here. The nights are becoming cooler, but simply by a degree or two. Not even enough to break out a sweater or *sniff* my boots. A few of the neighbors took notice of our spooky house decorations, and put up a few of their own. But not with the same enthusiasm as our massachusetts neighborhood.

So, sorry Thailand, you scored big points on everything else, but let me down on Halloween. Its not your fault. I'm still totally in awe of you, and can't believe we live in such an amazing place. But you just can't compete with Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA when it comes to a good old-fashioned Halloween.

You can make it up to me over Thanksgiving.