As Halloween Fades into the Near Distance...

OK, so I started up this blog again and, as I expected, I haven't posted anything. Sigh. So much going on, but what to talk about and what to keep in the "I wouldn't post that to the world" category.

Halloween. More specifically Trick-or-Treat. Next to Christmas, this is probably one of the most anticipated "holidays" in the Keohane household. Something utterly joyous for the kids in going door to door and getting free candy! Man, it still rings with happy memories from my own childhood. Andrew's still going out with his sisters, even though he's a freshman in high school. Why not? It'll be one of those tough, coming-of-age moments when he finally has to accept that it's time to hang up the monster mask.

This year, though, we had a slight wrinkle. I teach Monday night religious ed in our sleepy little church in town. It's a lot of fun. The kids are great, and they're hungry – lots of questions they, usually, never get to ask, lots of answers they may or may not usually get. I might get a few of the answers wrong, but I try. It's rewarding to be able to give them the lesson du jour but sprinkle it with more Biblical meat, than they usually get in an otherwise Ritual-intensive Catholic world. I believe with all my heart the reason I'm still here at the parish is for these teenagers, to be able to share the Truth in my own mumbly way, share some of my own personal stories. It's nice to have a place to actually talk about these things, too.

Anyhow, we didn't get too many kids in class, naturally, so we combined classes. Rather than stick with the lesson – which I now wish we had – we played it casual, trying (not always successfully) to give spooks and scary things a Biblical twist. Mostly we hung out, talked, enjoyed each other's company. What’s that called... fellowship? Anyhow, the pastor's a little mad at us. Hopefully I can make it up to him by getting the kids back on track next week. Sigh.

By the way, before I finish, special hey and thanks to Gard Goldsmith of WNTK radio who had me on for a fun but brief time on Halloween afternoon, along with special guest Del Howison of Dark Delicacies Books! (If I knew how to embed links in a blog I'd do so, but check out my home page, it's there, too).