Halloween!

It really offers perspective to experience such a familiar holiday in a different culture.

Pumpkins here are relatively small and not overwhelmingly available. The sweet British lady looking at them alongside me was most likely choosing one to bake, eat and enjoy while I carefully selected one that looked best to hack-up with a serrated knife and light ablaze! Costumes were hard to find as well. (They call it "fancy dress" here instead of costume.) Even on amazon.co.uk while online shopping for the kids, I was only able to find a handful of costume options, and most were very grim. "Why not just buy a costume at the store" you ask?... Because there weren't any. With the exception of maybe one or two supermarkets, the retail world of Oxford was seemingly completely unaware of Halloween. THAT alone was enough to spook this American! I had no idea I was so used to the over-commercialization of Oct. 31st! I honestly can't walk through somewhere as simple as a gas station in Texas this time of year without emerging on the other side plastered with bats and cobwebs and having been rudely surprised and laughed-at by at least one mechanical character. (Preferably a skeleton wearing a top hat.) It's just how it's done! And for one such as myself who never keeps a running calendar --let's be honest-- it's how I know what part of the year we're in.

Although it was quite a different experience here, our children still wanted to dress up and trick-or-treat, of course, so we did our best to piece together the requested costumes: "SweetPea Beauty" and "Nemo." I'll spare you the details of how I worked until the last minute with blue shiny paper and masking tape to make Julia's costume, but somehow it all worked out! THANK YOU to the Warrens for hosting us in their home for a pre-trick-or-treat dinner party! So much fun! And thanks, also, to the precious (albeit small) group of lovely British neighbors on Southmoor Street who gave us a glimpse of an American-style Halloween right here in Oxford. Halloween success in the UK! :)