Old Ned's Blog

Trick or Treat: The Senior Way.

Maybe you can help me out here with some Halloween issues.  We recently moved back to the area after living in a senior development in Palm Desert, CA, for a few years.

Before that, we lived in Providence point, Issaquah. Now we are concerned about the possible hordes of trick-or-treaters. We have no idea about acceptable treats or decorations.

 I was at one of the big box stores a few days ago and had to work my way around the gigantic displays of Halloween candies.   There were more candies, decorations, and costumes than I had seen in my lifetime.  I’m at a loss on what to do.

We did celebrate it in the retirement development, but things were quite different.  The “trick or treaters” that came to my door couldn’t do a trick if they practiced. Last Halloween, we had problems with some of them getting their walkers tangled up at the door and driving their golf carts into our fountain.

We did put together a neat bowl of treats.  I liked to do up the ever-popular little baggies of Metamucil, and a lot of them headed right for the strips of scotch-taped Tums.  I loved to take two lifesavers and hook them together in my own neat way to a rubber band, and it is such fun watching them trying to figure that one out.

 We had to help a few who forgot why they were at our door.  We got a few who knocked on the door because they needed to use the bathroom, and one lady came in and went to bed. We didn’t find her until we were getting ready that night.

I never knew what to say about their costumes. It’s just that you just can’t tell. Sure, a lot of them would dress up in their pajamas. But then, I just saw a lady wearing her pajamas at Costco.

Then there was the lady who would come to the door, get her treat, then go out onto the street, and forget she had just been here and come back again. We finally brought her in and sat her in front of the TV with a dish of ice cream.  Her son finally arrived and found her.

One lady picked up the treat bowl and took off in a golf cart with the entire thing. I had to chase her down the street to retrieve it.

The nice part of Halloween in that neighborhood is; first, it was a hoot, and second, we were all done before darkness even thought about coming our way.