Many facets of Halloween are depicted in this quilt, “Olde Salem Black Hat Society,” pieced by Anita Johnson and quilted by Therese Dominas. It was displayed at the Rice County Piecemakers Fall Splendor Quilt Show in September. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2023)
FOR THE FIRST TIME in decades, I haven’t purchased candy to give to trick-or-treaters. It’s not that I’m a meanie. Rather, we have so few kids come to our house that it simply is not worth even flicking on the outdoor light. The candy I buy each Halloween typically ends up consumed by us. And we don’t need it.
Photographed outside Audre’s Attic in Lonsdale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Plus, some 15 area businesses, organizations, churches and schools are holding Halloween-themed parties for kids, enough to fill any kid’s candy quota for the year.
Pumpkins painted by Cindy are for sale at my local Hy-Vee grocery store. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
If you’re protesting, “but, Audrey,” I offer one more reason. Cost. Candy is expensive, especially the mini chocolate candy bars I choose. (Hey, I don’t like gummies or suckers or Tootsie Rolls.) Randy and I are living on a retirement budget. And we all know how costs have risen on everything. It’s a scary time to retire.
I spotted this cute skull rock and two other Halloween-themed painted rocks on steps at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
I find the loss in investments, the price of groceries, the childish behavior in DC, the horror unfolding in our country and around the world much scarier than anything Halloween-related.
Original Gothic art for sale at Something for All Consignment/Thrift Store in Lonsdale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
The scary of Halloween rates as fun fright. And maybe that’s what we all need right now—scary diversions not based in reality.
This face in a window at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf creeps me out for some reason. I have no idea who she is, but I expect no one scary, except to me. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
If a lounging skeleton, a swaying ghost, a face in a window, Gothic art or whatever can divert thoughts from truth, then good. For a moment or more, the mind has managed an escape.
A skeleton relaxes in a Minnesota Vikings chair at my local Hy-Vee store. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
So Halloween evening, I will escape into When Books Went to War—The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II. I’m only pages into this nonfiction book, but already the burning of books by the Nazis is scaring me. The book ties nicely with The Librarian of Burned Books, a novel I read a few weeks ago. If a trick-or-treater rings my doorbell, I won’t answer. My mind will be elsewhere, plus I will have nothing sweet to offer…except a handful of chocolate chips.
The entry to Coy and Kathy Lane’s second annual Halloween display in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
IT’S SIMULTANEOUSLY CREEPY, creative and community-centered. That would be the Halloween display in the front and side yards of Coy and Kathy Lane, who live a block away from me up a steep side street.
The band plays for wedding guests. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Late Sunday morning Randy and I finally toured the Coys’ second annual Halloween creation, this year themed to the wedding of Stella Live and Noah Pulse. Kathy stepped outside her house to greet us and then to turn on the switches activating lights, sound and action. The Coys want visitors to walk into their yard for a fully-immersive experience. Already some 1,400 “guests” have stopped by to witness this wedding and attend the reception, according to Kathy. That’s double those who viewed their 2022 clown daycare display.
By the cemetery, an unexpected fright. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
From chatting with Kathy, it’s clear she and Coy love transforming their yard into a Halloween attraction that delights, awes and impresses. The couple enjoys the social aspect of interacting with visitors in what Kathy calls a family-friendly setting. If they learn that a young guest may be frightened by any aspect of their display, they’ll switch off the scary.
The Angel of Death activates to infuse scary into the cemetery.(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Had Kathy not warned me about the over-sized black-shrouded skeleton she activated near the cemetery, I may have jumped a bit. She noted every Halloween scene needs a cemetery, even at a wedding, where the reception was held at the Hiss and Hearse Golf Club and Cemetery. And, yes, there are open coffins and an Angel of Death and…
Brewing up drinks at the bar. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
And there’s a band and a wicked witch mother-in-law photo-bombing a photo of the bride and groom and a full open bar and a banquet table and a whole lot more.
At least one wedding guest drank too much. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
The attention to detail is remarkable. A guest who’s overindulged, perhaps on North Dust, Coffin Juice or Wing of Bat, pukes green vomit. A skeleton drummer bangs out a rhythm with bone drumsticks. A granny, skeleton cat beside her, rocks on the front porch as she oversees the festivities.
The creepy little girl. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Creepiest of all, in my opinion, is the teddy bear clutching girl who waits just inside the yard entry. Her long black hair falls around her sickly green face defined by glowing blue eyes. Over-sized green feet support her small frame. She’s off in a ghoulish sort of way that made me wonder what she’s capable of, what she’s thinking.
There’s lots to see, including a horse-drawn hearse with a surprise inside the glass-encased hearse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
I know what I was thinking upon viewing the Coys’ display. I was thinking how generous, how creative, how wonderful of this couple to share their love of Halloween with the Faribault community. They’ve generated lots of smiles, mixed with an element of fear, but in a good sort of way.
FYI: The Halloween display, located at 234 First Avenue Southwest, will be up only until October 31. Lights turn off at 9 pm weekdays and 10 pm weekends.
A wax doll for sale at Audre’s Attic, a Lonsdale shop packed with vintage, collectibles, antiques and other interesting finds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
SHE LOOKED SWEET ENOUGH, the big blue-eyed doll with cascading blonde curls clutching a teddy bear. But something about the wax doll creeped me out. Maybe I’d seen too many media reports about the annual Creepy Dolls contest at the History Center of Olmsted County, this October upped to a “Creepy Dolls: Murder at the Masquerade Event!”. Whatever the reason, I felt unsettled, as if that doll for sale at Audre’s Attic in Lonsdale was watching me. Any other time of year, I likely would have passed her without a wary thought.
A sign posted on property along Wells Lake outside Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
But this close to Halloween, the imagination leans toward the frightful. Scary stuff, depending on your definition of scary, is everywhere. Mostly, it’s all in good fun…unless you decide otherwise.
Displayed at Hy-Vee Grocery in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
It’s interesting how just the sight of something ghoulish can trigger a memory. Like the pirate skeleton curling his bony hands around a photo of grapes in the produce section of a local grocery store. The skeleton didn’t frighten me. Rather, it was the grapes that rattled me. I flashed back to a 1960s Halloween party. I was an impressionable kid then, blindfolded and instructed to stick my hand inside a container holding something decidedly cold, wet and roundish. “Cows’ eyeballs,” enthused the older girls hosting the party. I shrieked. Why wouldn’t I? We were in the basement of the local veterinarian’s house. It made total sense to me that I was touching cows’ eyes. I wasn’t. I was fingering cold, wet grapes.
An edited version of original artwork at Something for All Consignment/Thrift Store in Lonsdale. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
The eyes apparently have it for me in the terror department. I’ve always been vexed by Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” his one short horror story that I remember above all others. An old man’s vulture eye, Evil Eye, led the narrator to commit murder and then confess to the crime after being taunted by an endless ringing in his ears. It’s a macabre story as is Poe’s writing in general.
Photographed in 2015 at an antique shop (now closed) in Oronoco. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2015)
Screenwriter and filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock matches Poe’s talent in the horror genre. I can’t watch “The Birds” (starring Lafayette, Minnesota native Tippi Hedren) without freaking out. To this day when I hear the raucous caw caw caw of crows, I feel unnerved, as if the birds are waiting to descend upon me.
Big Foot crosses grassland on the Spitzack farm in Rice County. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo 2022)
Black things with wings, including bats and gigantic bugs with pinchers, fit my definition of frightening. Not skeletons. Not spiders. Not Big Foot. Not zombies. But dark winged things, plus mice, centipedes and memories of cold grapes scare me.
“All Dressed up for Halloween,” a quilt pieced and quilted by Marcia Speiker and displayed at the Rice County Piecemakers Fall Splendor Quilt Show in September. Buttermilk Basin is the pattern author. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2023)
Aside from the scary, I appreciate the fun side of Halloween, especially the excitement kids feel in dressing as favorite characters, imagining they are someone they are not. A superhero. A Disney character. An animal. Maybe even Batman, distinctly different than a bat. Wherever their imaginations take them, they race in their costumes—door-to-door and to Halloween events (not held in veterinarians’ basements) to gather bags full of candy.
Something for All Consignment/Thrift Store in Lonsdale offers assorted patterns to stitch Halloween costumes, including the 1995 pattern on the right. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
The little witches, dinosaurs, Spider Men and more skirt doorstep jack-o-lanterns, guts pulled out in strings of seeds and pulp. Unpleasant in an Edgar Alan Poe sort of way. Only painted pumpkins are spared disembowelment.
The underside of a monstrous bug found recently in Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Halloween mixes fun and fright. Over-sized bugs and skeletons. Candy. Creepy dolls. Cute princesses. Horror stories. Parties. And, if the mind (or the eye) wanders far enough, cold grapes persuasively re-imagined as cows’ eyeballs.
Halloween scene, 4 Third Ave. SW, Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
IN MY UNSCIENTIFIC OBSERVATIONS, I’ve noticed more Faribault yards decorated for Halloween in a big way this year than in the past. I realize this is the day after, but I expect many decorations will remain in place at least until the end of the week. Why not given all the time, effort and expense involved in creating scenes that mostly scare?
Recently I snapped photos of Halloween scenes in two yards, both up the hill from my house. Because of a locking zoom lens and camera failure (within weeks of one another), my photos are limited. Thus I encourage you, if you live locally, to drive by these residences for the full picture.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
Skeletons and skulls seem to play big into this season’s Halloween décor. Maybe they always have. Whatever, they fit the fear factor.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
A skeleton dressed as a clown multiplies the fear as he looms in a tree at 234 First Avenue Southwest. Clowns scare some people. Not me, although I remember not liking them as a kid.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
The First Avenue yard features several over-sized skeletons. When I was there one evening attempting to photograph in the dark with my failing camera, the scene illuminated in green, eyes flashed, something made a creepy sound and fog rose. You’ll need to imagine that given the photos were promptly deleted.
Frankenstein intimidates. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
Skulls and graveyards and an assortment of scary fill this yard and the one at 4 Third Avenue Southwest across from the former Immaculate Conception Church. Perhaps most intimidating, though, is the life-sized Frankenstein outside the front door. If I was a kid, that would keep me from seeking candy at that house.
Graveyard at Third Ave. SW. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
All in all, these Halloween scenes show the giving spirit of the folks who live here. They obviously love Halloween and sharing their enthusiasm with the community.
TELL ME: Are there any particularly creative Halloween displays in neighborhoods where you live?
NOTE: I purchased a used Canon zoom lens and a used Canon EOS 60D on Saturday. The camera is an upgrade from the used 20Ds (I was on my fourth of the model) that I’ve used for a dozen years or more. I’m happy to have functioning camera equipment again. I appreciate the guidance I got from local photography teacher and creative Johnnie Walker and the excellent customer service from the good folks at National Camera Exchange in Golden Valley.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
IT’S A HALLOWEEN ATTRACTION, a roadside oddity and creative marketing all rolled into one. That would be the gigantic rooftop ants and skeletons at Francis Animal & Pest Control along busy Lyndale Avenue North in Faribault.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
Drive by the business and you’ll spot four over-sized red ants crawling on the roof and a fifth climbing a ladder, right behind a skeleton. Skeletons ride all the rooftop ants.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
A solo black ant creeps on the roof of the adjacent garage.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
The ants have been in place for awhile. The skeletons are seasonally-new, ideal to celebrate Halloween.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
This staging of ants, and now skeletons, in a highly-visible location certainly attracts attention to a business that specializes in animal and pest control. The business website lists 23 insects, rodents, birds and small animals that it will rid from properties. That includes ants. And bats, lest you experience a Halloween invasion. Feral animals are also on the list, so that could include Halloween-attracting black feral cats.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
But skeletons? Nope, you’re on your own.
(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2022)
FYI: To see the rooftop ants and skeletons, take Exit 59 off Interstate 35 onto Minnesota State Highway 21/Lyndale Avenue into Faribault. Drive about a mile and Francis Pest & Animal Control will be on the right side of the highway. You can get a close view from the service road or the recreational trail which runs right past the business. The pest control company is right next to White Sands Dog Park.
Fall harvest underway near Kenyon in the Monkey Valley area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
AUTUMN IN MINNESOTA. Ah, what a season.
A welcome sign at a Kenyon craft show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo October 2021)
It is the season of harvest, of church dinners, of stunning fall colors. Of football games and simmering soups and visits to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. September and October are, too, the season of craft shows here in southern Minnesota.
Celebrating the season with a yard full of scarecrows. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
Recently, while returning from a fall color drive into the Sogn Valley and then on to Cannon Falls and back, Randy and I stopped at the 100 Ladies and Gentlemen Craft Sale along Minnesota State Highway 56 on the north edge of Kenyon. This marks the event’s 48th year.
Creative signage outside the craft sale building. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
I’ve shopped here previously, perusing the handcrafted works of regional artists and crafters. From holiday decorations to art to baskets to candles to furniture to coveted homemade caramels and much more, the variety of items showcased inside a poleshed style building are endless. Although I walked in with my camera slung across my shoulder, I didn’t take any photos inside. As I recall, photography isn’t allowed to protect the works of creatives. I get that.
Recognized in a well-known publication. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
A fancy lady scarecrow. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
Love the bright hues of this creative scarecrow. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
Instead, I aimed my lens at the scarecrows entered in the outdoor Scarecrow Contest. On a grassy area, scarecrows stake their spots and vie for visitors’ votes.
My favorite, which calls for close attention to details. Look at the eyes and mouth. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
The gathering of scarecrows adds a festive, seasonal feel to the autumn event.
Traditional scarecrow. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
The scariest, in my opinion. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
Perhaps the most unusual scarecrow. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
It’s fun to meander among them, to view the traditional, the scary, the unusual.
Humor among the scarecrows. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
These scarecrows, too, define the season. They remind me that Halloween is fast-approaching—an anniversary year here in Minnesota. This October 31 marks 30 years since the Halloween Blizzard of 1991. That four-day weather event dumped 28.4 inches of snow in the Twin Cities, with even more, 36.9 inches, in the Lake Superior port city of Duluth. Strong winds accompanied the overwhelming snowfall. And, yes, I remember.
More than just a tad creepy, another favorite scarecrow. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021)
But in this moment, at this place defined by the works of creatives, I appreciated the autumn day. Sunshine and blue sky. Scarecrows’ hair and clothing flapping in the October wind. Winter not yet welcome in this season of craft shows.
FYI: The 100 Ladies and Gentlemen Craft Show continues from 10 am – 8 pm October 28-31 and November 4-7 (closes earlier on the final day).
Inviting decor and outdoor seating create a welcome seasonal setting outside the boutique/store at Apple Creek Orchard, rural Faribault. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
MORE AND MORE, MINNESOTA apple orchards are growing more than just apples. They are growing memories, meeting public demand for experiences.
Bagged apples fill a crate just outside the boutique entry. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
Apple Creek Orchard, located in the countryside just northwest of Faribault at 5524 185th Street, is among those producers embracing that trend. Here, in this rural setting, visitors can find not only 21 pre-picked apple varieties—including popular choices like Honeycrisp, Haralson, Zestar, SweeTango, Cortland and the new First Kiss—but also Halloween Town.
Riders spilled off this wagon shortly after our arrival. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
That October attraction includes a Haunted Trail Wagon Ride (Friday-Sunday), Haunted Corn Maze and apple slinging.
I saw many families posing here for photos. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
Last Sunday afternoon, Randy and I popped in for a bag of apples while on a country drive to view the fall colors. We had no idea the orchard had evolved into more than a place to buy local apples…until we pulled into the farmyard. There, next to the aged mammoth barn with fieldstone foundation, I spotted a seasonal display of pumpkins and other décor staged on/aside straw bales. Plus a photo prop.
Plenty of pumpkins are available for purchase. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
Rounding the end of the barn, I saw more. Vehicles lined along lawn’s edge near the barn and the multi-purpose poleshed housing Apple Creek Boutique. And up the hill, additional photo staging.
A fun touch on the front of the tractor adds to the Halloween spirit. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
On this glorious autumn afternoon in rural Minnesota, folks clearly arrived here not only for the apples, but also for the experiences. Young families. Grandparents. Couples. Many boarded the Fun Country wagon for a ride through the property. Former orchard owner Dan Abelman steered the Kubota M5-111 tractor pulling the wagon. We chatted with him briefly afterwards. He sold the orchard to Tami and Kevin Theis late this summer and continues to help with the transition. He’s supportive and enthusiastic about the changes the couple has made. And ready, too, to be moving into retirement.
Hank the Unicorn, a popular photo prop for visitors. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
We didn’t go on the Haunted Trail Ride on a wagon named Josephine (my maternal grandmother’s name), but we roamed the grounds. There I found more photo props. Randy prompted me to sit on Hank the Unicorn so he could take, and text, a photo to our 5-year-old granddaughter. Already I was thinking, we need to bring Isabelle and Isaac here next fall.
The frightening entry to the hillside corn maze. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
While they may be a bit young for the 3-acre Haunted Corn Maze, I know they would enjoy the pumpkins, the autumn displays, the photo props…the experience…the time together as a family.
In the sunflower patch. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
A path runs between the sunflower and corn fields with a vintage tractor parked field side. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
Some sunflowers were still blooming. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
I got sidetracked also by a field of sunflowers, past their prime, but still a visual delight.
Details in decorating. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
Inside the on-site store, tagged Apple Creek Boutique because you’ll find more than fresh apples here, I poked around. There you’ll find local honey, apple juice-infused meat snack sticks and sausage from Odenthal Meats of New Prague, caramel apples, cider, Grandma Eileen’s homemade apple pies, mugs, seasonal décor and much more. But we came for the apples, stashed in a cooler. I opted for a bag of my favorite, Honeycrisp.
Love the thought put in to seasonal decorating. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
In the future, Apple Creek Orchard hopes to offer pick-your-own apples. There are more plans in the works, too. Co-owner Tami Theis, a certified wedding planner, shared that a section of the poleshed will be converted in to an event venue, The Blossom. Also coming in 2022 are homemade pizzas, donuts and cider, plus a wiffle ball field.
Parked before the next boarding for a wagon ride. Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2021.
I left feeling excited about this new local option for families, and others, to enjoy in rural Rice County. To learn more about apples. And to create memories via the agri entertainment now offered at Apple Creek Orchard.
Other area orchards include Trumps Orchard on Faribault’s east side; Montgomery Orchard, rural Montgomery; and Fireside Orchard & Gardens, rural Northfield. I’ve patronized each of these. What’s offered at each varies, so please visit their websites for details.
The grandkids, with their parents, getting ready to go trick-or-treating.
I ADMIT THAT WHEN ILEARNED my young grandchildren were going trick-or-treating, I was concerned. The CDC labeled the door-to-door tradition to be high risk during this global pandemic. Yet, I knew my daughter and her husband would be careful, as I expected others in their suburban Minnesota neighborhood would be. And that’s exactly how Halloween played out.
Isaac peeks out the front door side window before he leaves for trick-or-treating.
Setting a festive mood on the front porch…
Heading into the neighborhood early Saturday evening to trick-or-treat.
As I stayed behind to replenish the individually bagged candy and stickers and the glo-sticks arranged on an unattended table on the front porch, the rest—Isabelle as Thomas the Tank Engine, Isaac as a dinosaur, Randy as a divided Minnesota, and the parents as themselves, warmly dressed Minnesotans—set out to gather treats.
The candy table positioned outside the front door on the porch.
A Halloween garland visible through the front windows.
Spider web art created by my daughter and granddaughter and positioned in a front window (because the wind was too strong to place the cardboard piece outdoors).
I settled on the couch with the newspaper, occasionally hearing voices outside the front door. Then I’d wait a few minutes, until I knew the trick-or-treaters and their parents were gone, before stepping out to restock.
Isaac discovered that if he held his blinking lights treat bag next to something, the light would reflect. This fascinated him.
Eventually, the cold, fierce wind drew my family back to the house, where Isaac was more interested in his light-up candy bag than the candy. The kids each got one treat before we left and they transitioned toward bed.
Earlier, Randy and I sat with the kids and frosted and decorated homemade carrot cupcakes I baked the previous day. Isaac, at 22 months, was more interested in slicing the cupcakes with his child-sized knife. Izzy, 4, struggled with the thick frosting (note to self: next time make homemade cream cheese frosting), but managed the sprinkles quite well. When she later ate a cupcake overloaded with black sugar, her tongue turned black and black ringed her mouth. Coal residue from Thomas the Tank Engine, perhaps?
Chalk art on the driveway.
All in all, it was a fun Halloween. The kids were happy. The grandparents were happy to spend time with the grandchildren. And the parents, and the neighborhood, managed Halloween in a safe way, with all treats set outside and social distancing followed.
Randy noted one other difference. Trick-or-treating, without doorbell ringing and interaction, simply did not feel the same. He’s right. But this year, health and safety mattered more than tradition.
Celebrating Halloween in October 2016 with a costume parade down Faribault’s Central Avenue. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2016.
WHY IS HALLOWEEN such a wildly popular and much-loved annual celebration?
From a Halloween display in Hayfield, Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
Answers may range from the fun component to the scare factor. From costumes to candy. Whatever the reasons, it’s clear that Halloween captivates us each year. This year, though, with COVID-19, October 31 will look decidedly different. Or it should with no costume parties, safety-focused trick-or-treating (if at all), and other limitations.
Photographed at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Flea Market in rural Dundas. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
I have no intention of handing out candy this Halloween. Not that many kids ever stop at our house anyway given few live in our neighborhood. So if I’m not sharing treats, I’ll at least share 13 Halloween photos pulled from my archives.
Written on a window in Hayfield as part of a Halloween display. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2016.
So sit back and scroll through these images while you consider Halloweens past, when life seemed a lot less scary.
Brianna’s cat, in her home in Hayfield, Minnesota. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2016.
Three almost ghost-like faces, with undefined, haunting eyes, created by Pam Bidelman and exhibited at the arts center in St. Peter in 2012. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
I photographed Frankenstein in Janesville in 2016. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
Clowns don’t scare me. But I know they frighten some people. Photographed in 2016 in a Janesville antique shop. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
Bloody fingers cookies baked by my sister Monica or her daughters for past soup parties hosted by our sister Lanae. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
The owner of this water-ravaged home in Zumbro Falls still has a sense of humor as Halloween approaches in 2010 following a devastating flood. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2010.
A street scene in Zumbrota, Halloween 2016. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
A doll’s head is part of a Halloween yard display in Hayfield. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2016.
A vintage Halloween mask for sale at Antiques of the Midwest in Albert Lea. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
From a Halloween display in Hayfield, Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
WHAT SCARES YOU? I mean really scares you.
Is it the current state of our political climate? Climate change? Changes in your personal life? Life that feels overwhelming? Overwhelmingly high health insurance rates?
There’s so much to concern us. And I would place check marks in front of several items on that list, the most recent being health insurance premiums. Ours are increasing again. And I am seriously stressing about the additional $120/month we will pay for insurance that is nothing but a catastrophic plan. Our deductibles will rise from $4,000 each to $4,250 each come January 1.
I don’t pretend to be good at math. Words are my thing. But no matter that lack of skill set, I understand that the health insurance premium numbers are not good for our budget and have not been for years. I joke with my husband that he will need to pay his employer to work for him given the amount deducted from paychecks for insurance. Randy’s employer pays half of his premium, none of mine. I’m on Randy’s plan because I’m self-employed.
Now let me show you the numbers: In 2020, our monthly premiums will each be $1,149 for a total of $2,298 every single month. Of that, we will pay $1,723/month, which totals $20,677/year. And then we have those $4,250 individual deductibles before the insurance even kicks in.
This is absolutely absurd. There are no other words to describe the financial challenges we are facing because of health insurance rates that are through the roof ridiculous. No wonder we don’t go on big vacations, drive vehicles that are 15 and 17 years old, seldom dine out, have a vintage kitchen in need of a complete re-do, windows that need replacing, siding that needs paint or replacement…and don’t want to go to the doctor because we can’t afford to go to the doctor. Much of our income is funneled directly to the health insurance company rather than being pumped into the general economy. Sigh.
I never thought that at our age—in our early 60s—we would be in this financial situation because of health insurance premiums.
So what am I doing about this? Screaming, venting, crying, stressing. But I’ve also set up an appointment with a MNsure navigator to see if we qualify for any type of financial assistance. When I checked a few years back, that proved fruitless. I’m not especially hopeful this time either.
There you go, my financial horror story just in time for Halloween. I am thankful Randy and I both grew up in really poor families so we are not materialistic. We manage to pay all of our bills, get food on the table…and still donate to charities. We paid off our home mortgage years ago and I’m thankful we did.
But we never expected this overwhelming financial burden as we looked to the future and are nearing retirement.
This Halloween I’m not scared of things that go bump in the night. I’m scared of health insurance premiums.
THOUGHTS? Do you have similar health insurance horror stories?
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