A Different Sort of Halloween by Angie Ledbetter

{Photo by Angie Ledbetter}

Last night was All Hallow's Eve, and I celebrated in a nontraditional, but wonderful way. My sister-in-law, a good friend and I cooked and served supper at a men's shelter where I'm on a rotating shift to help out.

What I like best about volunteering there is the kindness and genuine appreciation the men exude. I think most people must just drop the food off when it is their turn, but the best part to me is leisurely sharing the meal and conversation after everyone is served.

I'm really glad I didn't have to do the trick-or-treat thing this year. My kids are at an age where they are off at teenage parties and such, so no worries about putting together costumes, buying candy to hand out to kids (many of whom are way too old to be begging for treats), or any of that other commercial stuff. Instead, I enjoyed a nice quiet evening of interesting talk and a feeling of warmth that will last long after pumpkins have gone to mush. Tomorrow I will put aside time to remember ancestors and loved ones, and all they contributed to my family and others.

Another thing I'm grateful for today is the availability of good quotes like this:

"Have Infinite Gratitude for all things past, Infinite Service for all things present, Infinite Responsibility for all things future." ~ Huston Smith

Too Tired to Think by Angie Ledbetter

Boy, what a day I had. Twelve hours of working the football jamboree! Can I tell ya? It's no fun to work over a hot fryer or grill cooking food when it's about 200 degrees outside and so muggy you're breathing wet air. Having an internal thermostat that tends to run on Warm anyway, added to a stadium filled with teenagers, and you get sweat dripping in your eyes.

Selling raffle tickets wasn't too bad, and when I cut up 6 bags of onions into thin rings to grill for burgers, at least I was sitting down. That our home team lost in the very last seconds of the game after running the first kickoff back for a touchdown in the first play was deflating for all the moms and dad who'd been out there working since noon.

Even with the loss and the running sweat and my onion-smelling hands, there are still things I'm grateful for, like working with great and generous people. We've made as many preps for hovering Hurricane Gustav as we can, the little school band of about 15 kids which one of my sons plays in did a valiant job with the Star Spangled Banner, and I got to take a break to go serve and eat supper with the men at one of our local shelters...always a great pick-me-upper! The 30 or so guys there loved the food and enjoyed visiting with us over dinner.

It's past midnight and my bed is crying for me. Please excuse any typos or bad sentence structure. Too tired to edit. I'm grateful for the coolness of my house and that I now get to go to sleep. Simple things, but things which many people do not have. (The shelter guys sleep on hard cots or bunks!) I will keep the many Gulf Coast evacuees traveling north and west away from the eye of the storm in thought and prayer tomorrow as our main Interstate switches to contraflow. It's just too hard to think of another Katrina coming toward us on the exact date of "her" third anniversary.
I'm grateful we have supplies and the means to flee should it become necessary.

Good night.