Rain + Wind = Panic on Halloween

So, we'll mark this year as the year that Halloween was postponed because of some wind and rain.

Last night while kids all around the country had fun dressing up in costumes and running through their neighborhoods getting obnoxious amounts of candy, a lot of kids in the Toledo area were sitting at home. Not trick or treating.

Why?

Because the powers that be in many communities in the Toledo area decided they needed to "postpone" trick or treating until today, tomorrow, or Sunday because of the weather.

Yes. Seriously.

The weather yesterday was not perfect, but it was warm (freakishly warm). Sure it was rainy and a bit windy. But honestly, it wasn't THE STORM OF THE CENTURY or anything like that.

But our local weather people - and their news desk cohorts - decided to hype up the severity of the weather and get everyone in a panic because OH MY GOD IT'S GOING TO RAIN AND BE WINDY!

The Weather Channel was part of the problem too. They started reporting on Wednesday about the risk of severe weather for MILLIONS of people on Halloween. SHUT YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS! STOCK UP ON SUPPLIES! IT'S GOING TO RAIN. AND BE WINDY.

They even had a reporter giving live reports from Cincinnati all day yesterday because of the RAIN. One would have thought there was a freak inland hurricane making its way through Ohio with all of the hand wringing that was happening on TV.

And of course, everyone on social media was freaking out too. CANCEL trick or treating! We have to STAY SAFE! Everyone act like lemmings and follow the leader as he jumps off the cliff in a state of panic! I even saw people posting on certain news websites that they would NOT vote for the mayor of Toledo in next week's election if he didn't postpone Halloween.

Seriously people? You're going to base your voting decision on the fact that you had to carry an umbrella on Halloween? When did it become OK to think that you're entitled to good weather on Halloween? We live in OHIO for crying out loud. It is usually cold or or windy or rainy or all of the above on Halloween. Get over it and invest in an umbrella.

And so yesterday morning, Toledo, Sylvania, Maumee, Perrysburg, Holland, and most of the surrounding communities announced that Halloween was being postponed until the weekend.

Follow. The. Leader.

And of course, at 6 p.m. last night, it was NOT raining. It was a little breezy. And it would have been PERFECT for trick or treating. But rather than running through the neighborhood collecting candy, the kids were sitting inside, watching a movie. And now we get to trick or treat on November 3.

Happy Un-Halloween.

Lots of words on a Wednesday

I sat down to write a post yesterday...about what, I'm not really sure. I just felt the need to fill this space with more than "Wordless Wednesday" photos.

And there was nothing.
I had no words.
I could not think of one single thing to say.

My husband found this especially amusing when I emailed him at work and said "I can't write a blog post because I have literally run out of words!"

His response?
"You run out of words? Never!"

Yeah. It was writer's block of the worst kind.
I honestly don't know what came over me.

I've been doing A LOT of writing lately. And I'm LOVING it. (I haven't been doing that writing HERE, obviously). But regardless...I'm writing and I'm happy and I guess when I'm happy that means I have less things to snark about. (Lucky YOU!).

And yesterday I had been coming up with story ideas for my writing gig, and drafting stories, and writing ... and by 3 p.m. I had nothing left.

Today however...my words have returned.
Again, lucky you.

I was drafting a blog post in my head the other day about a whole lot of random stuff. Like, this stupid Ohio weather. One day it's 70 and sunny and the next (today) it's 40 and rainy. Yes, I'm complaining. And I don't care if people don't want to hear me complain. I'm tired of cold and rain and trees with no leaves. I just want warm, sunny, springlike weather.

Aside from the weather, social media has been annoying me lately. Mostly what has been bothering me is people's total lack of a filter when it comes to posting comments on Facebook. I mean it's as if people think that just because they happen to be TYPING their comment it's different than saying that very same thing to someone in person. Look...if you can't/won't say something to someone IN PERSON why in the name of all that is HOLY would you leave a negative/judgmental/rude comment on their Facebook page?

Common sense...it's seriously lacking on social media right now.

So yeah. Other than the weather and the prevailing rudeness on Facebook...I can't say much else is bothering me. Shocking, right? I said it at the beginning...I'm writing and I'm happy.

And I guess that's all there is to say about that.