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Halloween Walk
posted Wednesday, 2 November 2005
Halloween week is always busy for me. I always take my last week of vacation to be with the family. My daughter is big into the holiday and we make the most of it.
This year we started out by going to Carlisle Township and the Metro Parks Halloween Walk. It's a big event with live shows, lots of food and a great long scary walk on their nature paths. Once at the park the line was long so I had to sample the many foods just to keep busy.
Finally we hit the trail. Within seconds we were in total blackness. My daughter huddled between me and the wife and we were off. We didn't go more than ten feet when my foot slipped off the side of the asphalt path and gave way. My martial arts training kicked in and I tumbled down to the ground safely.
When I was young and would fall I'd pop right back up. Now (nearly fifty) I lay on the ground for a few minutes and examine my life. My wife ran to my side to help and stepped on my left hand. I yelled, "You're standing on my eeYOWWWWsaaaa!" She grabbed my right arm and started to pull. I immediately realized two things:
1. Newton was right. All of the power that she was using to pull on my arm was being transferred to her foot (and then to my hand).
2. Any verbal skills I have diminish proportionately to the amount of pain I feel.
The daughter joined in and pulled on my arm. This made little sense because there is no way they could lift my frame (currently weighing in at more than an eighth of a ton!). As I would catch my breath and try to tell her she was on my hand she would pull with renewed gusto and compress my hand into the soggy soil.
Finally one of the other walkers shone a light on us and we looked ridiculous. Me on the ground with the wife and daughter pulling in different directions. The wife realized she was standing on my hand and jumped off. I stood up and looked at my hand. It looked like it had be
en in a George Foreman Grill overnight. We went on.
Ghouls, goblins and witches jumped out from behind things and took my mind off my hand and as we rounded a bend we found hundreds of carved pumpkins in a swamp. The effect was incredible.
There were numerous little haunted houses and areas in the park that had either skeletons hanging from the trees or giant spiders.
At one point we entered a haunted laboratory and my daughter squeezed my hand. Since my hand felt like a waffle I yelled, "Hey, leggo my Eggo." But since she is only 13 she didn't remember the commercial and just squeezed harder.
After the Halloween Walk we ate some more food and went on a miniature train ride. The wait was very long and so I took a few pictures of my daughter and her friend.
The Metro Parks does a fine job and all of it is free. Of course I threw a few bucks in the donation box but you didn't have to. It's nice to know that there are places like this. We went to a haunted house later in the week (I'll talk about that in my next entry) where it cost $12 per person. The Metro Parks are the place to be at Halloween, if you get a chance next year check it out.
This year we started out by going to Carlisle Township and the Metro Parks Halloween Walk. It's a big event with live shows, lots of food and a great long scary walk on their nature paths. Once at the park the line was long so I had to sample the many foods just to keep busy.
Finally we hit the trail. Within seconds we were in total blackness. My daughter huddled between me and the wife and we were off. We didn't go more than ten feet when my foot slipped off the side of the asphalt path and gave way. My martial arts training kicked in and I tumbled down to the ground safely.
When I was young and would fall I'd pop right back up. Now (nearly fifty) I lay on the ground for a few minutes and examine my life. My wife ran to my side to help and stepped on my left hand. I yelled, "You're standing on my eeYOWWWWsaaaa!" She grabbed my right arm and started to pull. I immediately realized two things:
1. Newton was right. All of the power that she was using to pull on my arm was being transferred to her foot (and then to my hand).
2. Any verbal skills I have diminish proportionately to the amount of pain I feel.
The daughter joined in and pulled on my arm. This made little sense because there is no way they could lift my frame (currently weighing in at more than an eighth of a ton!). As I would catch my breath and try to tell her she was on my hand she would pull with renewed gusto and compress my hand into the soggy soil.
Finally one of the other walkers shone a light on us and we looked ridiculous. Me on the ground with the wife and daughter pulling in different directions. The wife realized she was standing on my hand and jumped off. I stood up and looked at my hand. It looked like it had be
en in a George Foreman Grill overnight. We went on.Ghouls, goblins and witches jumped out from behind things and took my mind off my hand and as we rounded a bend we found hundreds of carved pumpkins in a swamp. The effect was incredible.
There were numerous little haunted houses and areas in the park that had either skeletons hanging from the trees or giant spiders.
At one point we entered a haunted laboratory and my daughter squeezed my hand. Since my hand felt like a waffle I yelled, "Hey, leggo my Eggo." But since she is only 13 she didn't remember the commercial and just squeezed harder.
After the Halloween Walk we ate some more food and went on a miniature train ride. The wait was very long and so I took a few pictures of my daughter and her friend.
The Metro Parks does a fine job and all of it is free. Of course I threw a few bucks in the donation box but you didn't have to. It's nice to know that there are places like this. We went to a haunted house later in the week (I'll talk about that in my next entry) where it cost $12 per person. The Metro Parks are the place to be at Halloween, if you get a chance next year check it out.
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