Halloween in Homestead

I’ve written about my Mother before, here’s another one about her.

Mom loved Holidays, it was an excuse for her to let go of her creative side, and let me tell you, for better or worse, Mom WAS creative. She used to go all out for Halloween, I never had a store-bought costume, neither did my brother. Our house was decorated from the palm trees to the hibiscus bushes.

Those of you who have had the dubious pleasure of knowing me, understand my passion for dinosaurs, like most little kids I had a love affair with these extinct beasts, the difference is I became a real paleontologist.

So, it came as no surprise that one year I just HAD to go as a dinosaur. My mom sacrificed a old bed covering with a pebbly texture, dyed it green and went to work. She made a VERY workable T-rex, It’s very realistic head was stuffing, had a tail etc. it even saw use by adults in future parties.

Now Mom wasn’t satisfied with decorating and making costumes for us kids, she NEEDED to get involved. Drafting the wife from next door, the pair dressed up as witches, obtained a huge iron kettle they filled with Kool-Aide and dry ice. She borrowed my Creepy-crawly set and made bugs and stuff she froze into ice cubes.

Nights in Homestead could be hot, even at the of October so the koolaide was welcome. But, my mother wasn’t done. She and the neighbor took turns hiding behind the hibiscus and as the kids were drinking, they would jump out scaring the heck out of them, one poor child even swallowed his ice cube, creepy crawler and all, but that too would pass.

Dad and the dog, took refuge from all the goings on, though the pooch sure wanted to join in the fun!

John Paul Jones