Last Day of October 2012 Narrative

Good Wednesday, everyone! And, to those of us who observe/celebrate it, Happy Halloween! For Catholics all over the world, Happy All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (on November 1 and 2, respectively)!

This morning, as soon I rose up from bed, the first thing I remembered was that I did write a composition about Halloween. And it appeared in our local community newspaper, Suffolk News-Herald, four years ago yesterday. I thought of sharing it with you, my dear folks and friends, so what I did I tried to locate my files about those simple and random imaginings I have had. Eureka! Yes, I found it. Thanks to God. (I do hope you guys had a chance to read it because I did share it to my Facebook friends as soon as I've finished transcribing it as one of my blog posts.)

(As I'm writing this post in our living room, while our TV set is on to news broadcast, our door bell rang. It was five minutes before 6:00 p.m. Guess who were in front of our door? Three kids in their lovely costumes! Behind them was a female adult, most likely the mother of one of the children. I gladly gave them each a Fun Size milk-chocolate candy and candy bars (M & M and Twix) which I've prepared an hour or two ago while I was preparing/cooking for our dinner. (I bought those sweet treats yesterday at Dollar Tree Market.) After giving the kids goodies, I asked the Mom if she won't mind that I take one snapshot at the costumed and made-up kids. She gave a nod and said, "I don't mind, go ahead!" Quickly I grabbed my camera and aimed at the kids who were gracious enough to pose for me. (I hope I can embed in this post later.)

Let me continue my story-telling for today...After using the restroom in our room, I time-checked. Why? I've thought of having breakfast at McDonald's. And it's already 10:50. Hurriedly, I brushed my teeth and changed my clothes. It's five minutes to eleven when I was on my way to the restaurant, driving our van and with my laptop with me. It was a minute before they changed the menu, from serving breakfast to lunch. Gladly and thankfully, I was still able to order a breakfast meal. That was my "brunch" already.

(Blogging Pause or Interruption @ 1838 (military time). The door bell rang. I opened it. Five kids in their costumes were on my front door, in unison, "trick or treat!" I just let them pick out what goodies they want from this earthen sombrero-like container. Their female adult escort from afar, our driveway, asked the kids, "what are you gonna say, kids?" They all said, "thank you!" to me. I'm so delighted to see them in their varied costumes, some spooky, others decently lovely. Then, kids came one group after another. @1845--- 2 kids; @1846---3; @1856---2 kids; @1859--- 10 children; @1903---5; @1906---4 kids; @1907---10 kids; @1911---5; @1913---one female teen; @1921---3 kids. I kept on refilling my "sombrero" container, not a basket, please. I feel good that I bought a lot of candies and goodies. Hopefully, it will be enough for the children coming for trick or treating. It's now 1933 as I continue blogging. No door bell heard yet. That's probably it for the night, with a total of 53 kids who came to my house for trick or treating. This activity ends @ 2000, per the city's regulation. I still have about 30 Fun-Size milk-chocolate candies/goodies left on my sombrero-shaped earthen bowl.)

Now to continue my narrative...While there at McDonald's I did visit Facebook and went back to my blog. From FB, I came across a shared link from one of my FB friends. I was touched by the article and the videos (courtesy of ABC News) about child abuse/molestation particularly of this so-called victim number one of the (infamous) former Penn State football coach who was finally convicted to life imprisonment (by a grand jury) for child molestation/sexual abuse, per media reports. I made a comment for my FB friend, telling her that I've read the article and watched the videos in which victim number one, Aaron Fisher, now 18 years old, was courageous to speak up, tell the truth about his case when interviewed by one of the correspondent-reporters of ABC News 20/20. I also thanked my FB friend for sharing that link to FB.

At that moment, my brain was alert, telling me to go to my blog and so I found myself writing down my thoughts via my blog. As a result, I have this post Wednesday's Thoughts (with the poem Trust No One which deals with a victim of child sexual abuse/battery/molestation and his or her conviction to fight for justice.) But, of course, I shared this post to my Facebook friends.

Having been loafing there at McDonald's for three hours plus, I finally decided to quit. I, therefore, drove back home, brought out our trash bins, the black and the blue and placed them at the designated area, by the curbside, ready for pick up tomorrow, Thursday.

Then, I prepared something for our dinner. I boiled black-eyed peas or beans with bitter mellon or "ampalaya" (from our fridge), and with sliced onion, a can of salmon, and flavored it with oyster sauce with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. On another burner was a pan with that hot Italian sausages cooked with water until brown with fat or oil from them. And, of course, with left-over steamed rice. That's what's for dinner for us, my dear folks and friends. What have you prepared, by the way? Any simple recipe for dinner that you can share to me? Do appreciate it.

After cooking, you know what I did. Chow time, of course! Yeah, it's time for me to eat. You know me, I always like to eat just after cooking because I want to taste, first of all, what I prepared. I don't know if you agree with me when I say that home-cooked meal is better and healthier. But not all of the time, though. I know. All of us, sometimes or at some point in time, want to also eat out, to savor what this or that restaurant or eatery serves or prepares. Especially if that restaurant is well-advertised or well-known, either by word of mouth or by paid advertisement.

Well, this is all for now. Halloween is over. This is my last day of October 2012 narrative. Hope it didn't bore you to death or contribute to your ennui. Hope not. Anyway, until next time around. Thank you for your time. Take care and have a pleasant day, everyone! As always, I pray, "May God bless us all!" And, God bless our fellow men and women and their families who were hard-hit or badly or grossly affected by Hurricane Sandy. May they find comfort and joy in their recovery, with God's grace and mercy! To all victims of Hurricane Sandy, may they rest in peace. Amen. May their families find peace and comfort in their period of sorrow and grief. My personal and sincere condolence goes out to them.-chris a. quilpa, 31October2012