The End of October

Here it is, almost the end of October, and the month has flown by.  Halloween is just four days away.  My new grandson Peter is already eight days old!  For the past week, there's been such a flurry of activity in the home I share with my daughter Katie and her family.  Separated by a garage and a flight of stairs, my apartment is just steps away from their house.  We've established a balance of shared time.  I like to give them their family time together, though they welcome me into their part of the house.  For the past week, I've spent more time in their home than my own, helping a bit with Henry and now the new baby.  I'm proud of Katie -- she seems to have adapted from one-child-to-two with quiet confidence.  She has had a house-full of willing assistants (aka Grandmas) at the ready, and now it is time for her to fly solo, to handle two little ones for most of the day on her own.  I'm sure she'll be fine.

Last night, Katie set up the dining room table for pumpkin painting and carving.  She had grown a couple of pumpkins in her garden.  Massive pumpkin vines yielded lots of blossoms but just two pumpkins.  Henry had the happy task of painting those two pumpkins, the larger one for him and the smaller one for baby Peter.  We poured little puddles of paint on a paper plate.  Henry was in an artist's smock, and went to town like a little Jackson Pollock!  He kept asking for "more" paint, and was an intent little artist, quite pleased with his results.  Katie and Bill carved their purchased pumpkins.  Bill's is very creative, a 3-D pumpkin sculpture with eyebrows and a funny nose.  Katie carved a large monogram "H" for "Hofmann" on hers, to sit at the end of their split-rail fence on a bale of hay, greeting anyone who comes up the long driveway.  Along the top of the fence, she's strung little orange lights.  If you are wondering about my role during all this creative expression, it was to hold little Peter, who slept quietly in my arms while the artists were at work.

When the painting and carving were done, the pumpkins were lit with tea lights and placed on the front steps.  We turned the porch light off and went outside (it was a beautifully warm night) and spent a few minutes admiring the illuminated creations.   Henry was up on Bill's shoulders, in awe of the jack-o-lanterns and also of the beautiful night.  Trees were swaying in the night breeze, and fallen leaves were swirling about.   It was a peaceful, lovely moment with a growing, young family, and I thought, "I want to remember this."


Halloween postcard image:  http://www.autumnswitchery.byethost6.com/images/jackolantern.jpg