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the morning after

November 2, 2016 By Talya Tate Boerner 20 Comments

the morning after

Oh, the morning after. Brings to mind lots of things—am I right? But in this particular instance, I’m thinking about the morning after Halloween. November 1. All Saints’ Day (yesterday), a solemn holy day of the Catholic Church. The day after Halloween. The day before All Souls’ Day (today).

That, morning after.

That’s the day to treasure hunt for lost Halloween items. And if you still crave chocolate, you can find plenty on porch stoops and along the sidewalks. Like an Easter egg hunt without the eggs. And without Easter. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

The day after any celebration or big event is often followed by a certain feeling, en emptiness mixed with relief. This is true of Halloween, too, at least in our neighborhood where most everyone gets in on the fun with entire families dressing in costume to escort kids around the block. Jack-o-lanterns perch on front porches. The local grocery store sells out of candy.

The morning after, as Lucy, Annabelle and I went for our first walk of the day, the street had a vacant feel to it. The wind blew leaves around, along with the occasional candy wrapper. And we found plenty of unopened candy, too.

the morning after - candy

I was reminded of that scene from the movie Big when Josh returns to the site of the previous night’s carnival. The night before had been filled with lights, music, laughter, food, rides. But the morning after, the carnival had eerily vanished. The wind blew. Leftover trash remained as the only sign of what had been.

That’s how the morning after felt in our neighborhood, too.

On Halloween, I gave out 1,000 pieces of candy (for the most part, one piece at a time to make it last). For three solid hours, Lucy and Annabelle barked from the front window. Three solid hours. The morning after, we were tired. The neighborhood felt tired as well, relieved to be done for another year.

But unlike the movie Big, we began to find lots of Halloween evidence. I took pictures, as I do. And it became a game. What would we find?

Oh so much.

Here’s what we discovered during our morning after walk (presented to you unmoved, just as we found them).

  1. WITCH HAT. When we came upon this, I immediately thought about the Wicked Witch of the West and how she melted into the ground, but I knew that hadn’t happened because her dress would be piled there, too. Second, I thought it might be a portkey (a la Harry Potter), but when I touched it, I didn’t travel anywhere. Boo. My friend Gary said maybe a kid had been sucked into the concrete. A definite possibility.

the morning after - witch hat

2. LARGE CANTEEN. Evidently, GI Joe lost his canteen. He’s probably thirsty by now.

the morning after - canteen

3. LITTLE TYKES WITCH. This odd thing was hiding in the monkey grass like a Halloween garden gnome. I’ve since learned (because I checked with the Googler), this is a Cackling Witch Flashlight. Now I wish I’d taken it. One can always use an extra flashlight.

the morning after - witch flashlight

4. NASTINESS. Well. A leftover weenie still not eaten by the morning after—that tells you how bad it was/is. Because our neighborhood is loaded with critters. And the wrapper beside it? That contained a glow stick. A weenie on a glow stick? There’s a bad joke laying on the sidewalk.

the morning after nastiness

5. RELIGIOUS INFORMATION. This may or may not have been part of the Halloween morning after leftovers, but it was on the sidewalk and I felt I should include it. When I was a kid, there was always someone in town handing out Jesus Loves You stickers or Bible verse bookmarks. And there was always the random old man handing out toothpaste, too. Now, I’m not being disrespectful. I happen to love Jesus and toothpaste, but on Halloween I want sugar. So do all the other trick or treaters.

the morning after - jesus paperwork

6. TURQUOISE FEATHER. I imagine this floated from a flapper girl or peacock costume or a cute little tutu of some sort. Annabelle sniffed it and walked around with it attached to her face for half a block. A good color on her.

the morning after - turquoise feather

7. SPIDERMAN MASK. Somewhere today, Peter Parker is having a bad day.

the morning after - spider man

8. SPARKLY JEWEL. Call me Nancy Drew, but I’m thinking this turquoise jewel belongs with the turquoise feather costume. The green thing is a Spree candy…

the morning after - jewel

9. WITCH FINGER. Best day of the year for a witch? Halloween. Worst day of the year for a witch to loose a finger? Halloween. Worst Halloween ever for a witch? When she looses her hat and her finger. It happened.

morning after witch finger

10. PURPLE BOW. No idea. Could be a hair bow or a bow tie or real portkey, but we’ll never know because I didn’t touch it.

the morning after - purple bow

11. PINK SKELETON GLOVE. In our own flower bed, a single glove instantly reminded me of O.J. and his glove problem, yet this one was much cooler because, you know, pink, skeleton, child-sized, and no murder associated with it to my knowledge.

morning after - glove

Whew. Seriously. We found all these items and lots of uneaten candy all on our street. Writer friends, feel free to use these items as writing prompts. Dog owners, watch for dropped chocolate after Halloween. Chocolate is poison for dogs.

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]The morning after #Halloween. You won’t believe the things we found…[/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:
Spiderman Theme Song, 1960s

Filed Under: Holiday, Humor Tagged With: All Saints' Day, Halloween, spiderman, trick or treating

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Comments

  1. Jo Ann Wardein says

    November 2, 2016 at 9:07 am

    Delightful blog, Talya!! Thank you…Jo Ann

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 2, 2016 at 9:51 am

      Thanks Jo Ann! I bet your neighborhood had lots of trick or treaters, too?

      Reply
  2. Colene says

    November 2, 2016 at 9:17 am

    Refreshing blog to start the day! Funny too!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 2, 2016 at 9:52 am

      Thanks, Colene. I think we need a little humor after the terrible news from Iowa today. So horrible.

      Reply
  3. dot says

    November 2, 2016 at 10:43 am

    Good blog. Reminded me of the costumes my kids would start out with only to come home leaving pieces behind. Masks that made walking a hazard and breathing nigh impossible. Glad you have a safe neighborhood for the kids. 1,000?! Wow.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 2, 2016 at 8:09 pm

      Thanks, Dot, and yes 1,000 pieces of candy which paled in comparison to our Dallas neighborhood! I saw several kids this year would could barely maneuver the steps because of their masks. Fun night with lots of great costumes.

      Reply
  4. Debbie says

    November 2, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    This may be my favorite post of yours yet:)

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 2, 2016 at 8:09 pm

      Well thank you very much Debbie!

      Reply
  5. Sissy says

    November 2, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    So glad I took a few minutes to read your blog today. You never disappoint. Loved it and all the photos to. It made me laugh and made me think back of all the many times I found such things the morning after. Thank you Talya???

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 2, 2016 at 8:10 pm

      Thanks for reading Sissy! I appreciate it.

      Reply
  6. Fay Guinn says

    November 2, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    Love the picture of sneakers and leaves. You are a very creative photographer.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 2, 2016 at 8:10 pm

      Thanks, Fay! I love to take pics.

      Reply
  7. Staci says

    November 2, 2016 at 10:51 pm

    Treasure hunt for the doggies for sure. Wish I had been there!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 3, 2016 at 8:25 am

      me too!!!!!

      Reply
  8. Dorothy Johnson says

    November 3, 2016 at 9:47 am

    Did you take anything home? I might have had to take the witch hat. But maybe the owners will find their lost gloves and such.

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 4, 2016 at 10:46 am

      No, I didn’t. I have two similar witch hats LOL. The hat was still in the same place yesterday which made me laugh. I think if it was in the front of my house, I’d move it.

      Reply
  9. Kat Curling says

    November 4, 2016 at 12:29 pm

    I was actually thinking about this while we were trick or treating! The “go to” street for trick or treating is always so packed on Halloween! I always wonder how the flower beds and landscaping make it through the night haha. I bet they find all kinds of interesting things.

    I’m so glad you shared this!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      November 5, 2016 at 9:44 pm

      Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Yes, sometimes the flowers take a beating:)

      Reply
  10. Cindy says

    November 1, 2019 at 9:04 am

    Enjoyed, as usual! Makes me think of our childhood and Mammaw Ruby’s Popcorn balls! ?

    Reply
  11. Sharon Collins says

    November 1, 2019 at 5:34 pm

    We had a lot of kids in spite of the tornado watches and eventually they tapered off when it was upgraded to a tornado warning. I was amazed at the number of special needs kids. All are welcome at my door! We live in a small subdivision and simply do not have the population to supply us with an unlimited number of children, but we are having families return to the old neighborhood year after year to visit us again.

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

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