June was all right. July was hot. August was hotter. September wasn’t much better. October hurried by and now it’s November, and I’m a little startled.
We’re still a little bit behind on average rainfall, but we’ve so made up for most of the deficit. We finally had a few sunny days, and then, with no warning that I got, Thursday turned dark and nasty.
I’d gone to the grocery store, sort of at the last minute, for Halloween treats. And, for me, those treats are apples. I certainly love candy and would eat it every day if I could. Junior Mints for breakfast, M&Ms for lunch, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for dinner. If I could.
And Snickers and Mars Bars and Hershey Bars. And Butterfingers.
Yes, there’s a plate of goodies, but Kevin’s eating his apple.
But several years ago, I started handing out apples. Years ago, when Kevin was two, I took him to a family Halloween party. There were apples on the table, and every kid got one. Kevin cradled it with love. He’d never had a whole entire apple, all his own. I’ve seen the same thing with other kids; that “This is my apple and you stay away from it!” sort of attitude. So, I get apples.
Thursday morning was really dark. Heavy clouds. And then, mid-morning, pouring rain. Rain, and rain, and more rain. Then, in the afternoon, it kept on raining. Still, I opened the bags of apples and piled them into a basket and set it near the door. I turned on the outside lights. And had low expectations.
No kids live on our block or the next one up. I don’t see many kids in the neighborhood, despite the fact that there’s an elementary school at the end of the block. But, I don’t begrudge the groups of children that walk around, or are driven around, looking for houses with their lights on.
No one rang the doorbell until after 8:00. In the street, there were several parked cars with lights on. A caravan of sorts, I think, of families who were out searching for goodies. When I opened the door, there were ten or twelve kids, with their parents standing behind them. They said, “Trick or Treat!” (The littlest ones needed some prompting.)
“Happy Halloween,” I said, and held out my basket.
“Apples!” said the littlest ones, who were standing closest, and they reached in for their fruit.
“Apples?” said the older kids, as they pulled apples from the basket, just as happily.
“Thank you,” said a mom. “You are my favorite house!”
Nobody looked unhappy. And why would they, they already had loads of candy. Along with their shiny apple that was all their own.
The next, much smaller group came about a half hour later. They were just as happy with apples as the others. And, that was it for the evening.
Only once, many years ago, two houses ago, did I have a grumpy Trick-or-Treater. The doorbell rang, I opened the door, and held out the basket with apples inside. The boy leaned over and stared down into the basket. He looked up at me and said, rather unkindly, “I don’t want an apple.”
I said, “Too bad. That’s all I’ve got.” He turned away, and walked back down the sidewalk, where his dad (I presume) was standing. When he got to the end of the sidewalk, his dad said, “What did you say to her!?!”
I closed the door, smiling just a little, hoping the kid was going to get some sort of instruction about grateful hearts and being kind and thankful for gifts that are freely given.
Yes, God will give you much so that you can give away much, and when we take your gifts to those who need them they will break out into thanksgiving and praise to God for your help.
2 Corinthians 9:11 (The Living Bible)
The Sunday after Halloween, I usually take the basket with the remaining apples to church, to preschool Sunday School. I peel and core the apples, and the children, using nice, safe knives, cut them up (into varying sized pieces, some rather large and some minuscule). Then, we put them into an electric skillet (in an out-of-the way place) and cook them. Then we squash them with a potato masher and have yummy homemade applesauce. We are thankful.