Sal's Halloween

A couple of weeks ago, I went for a walk around the block and saw a Lego Halloween house (pictured below), in the process of being built.  I stopped and asked the homeowner if I could come back when the house was finished and take a picture of it with my tiny ukulele.  He said that would be fine.

I promptly forgot about it until I went for another walk a few days ago.  I made a "note to self" to return and get some pictures, so this morning, before driving out to the hinterlands to visit my mother, I stopped at the Lego house.  I began quickly setting up and taking pictures of Sal, realizing I'd better make it snappy (pun intended) so I wouldn't be late.  As Sal and I started to quickly return to my car, I heard a voice asking, "Is that yours?"  After a moment of surprise, I figured out that the person was calling to me from the neighboring driveway, and that she probably thought I was stealing something -- Sal -- from the Lego house.  I explained what I was doing, told her that I had asked the homeowner for permission, and that Sal was indeed mine.  I gave her a couple of Sal's business cards so she and the builder of the oh-so-cool Lego house would know where to find this post.  I also thanked her for watching out for her neighbor -- and I really meant it!

Isn't this cool!?  It looks like it's made of giant Legos.  And I love how the windows on the real house are boarded up, too.  There is also a spooky fence with spiderwebs and such around the whole yard, but I was in a hurry and didn't get a picture of that.  :(

I took a picture from low on the ground looking up, because I thought it might look spooky.  It doesn't, but I like it anyway.

I love the skeletons and Lego people all over the place.

Not being knowledgeable about Legos, I don't know exactly what to make of this.  Did the homeowner build the big house to replicate the small one?  I think so, but if he reads this, I hope he will send a message to travelswithsal@gmail.com and enlighten me so I can be more informative here.

I drove over to my Mom's house, stopping for a quick five minute photo shoot at Furnace Run -- a park along the way.  The leaves were so beautiful, and Sal was in the car...  I couldn't resist...

Next spring I'll be bringing Sal back here to get her picture taken with lots of daffodils.  According to the park's website:  "An estimated 40,000 daffodils – including dozens of varieties – bloom each spring along the H.S. Wagner Daffodil Trail, named for the park district's first director-secretary, who planted the first bulbs here in the late 1930s." 

I was playing around with holding Sal in the air to try to make it look as if she was among the leaves.

I arrived at Mom's in good time and we went off to do some errands.  On the way back to her house I had to stop at another park to take a picture of this giant totem pole.  We pass it every time I go shopping with her, and I often think it would be cool to take a picture of it.  This time I had to stop!  There was fall foliage and I had Sal in the car!

I'm sure you can understand why I had to get a shot of Sal with this totem pole!  Maybe I should do this in every season.

After dropping Mom off, it was time to go to work.  As you might expect, it's pretty slow at the library on trick or treat night!  Almost everybody in town is either going out collecting candy -- or handing it out, I suppose.

As I always do when I have to work on Halloween, I put candy in a bowl on the porch before leaving for the day.  I never know how many kids are going to come trick or treating chez moi, so I make a guess about how much candy to buy.  I've had years when only a couple of kids came, and years when 50 came.  One year I put a bowl of candy out, and it was untouched when I got home.  Tonight was rainy and windy -- not optimal conditions for little kids in costumes to be out and about -- so I was wondering if anybody would stop by for candy.  It turns out there were some hardy souls out there.  Half the candy was gone.  :)

When I come home and there is some candy left, it restores my faith in humanity.  Somebody could have easily taken all of it.  Nobody would have been the wiser.  But the trick or treaters have always been honest!  (Unfortunately, I am now tempted to eat the leftover candy.  Never fear!  I will eat a little and take the rest to work tomorrow!)