BOO!

       It's Halloween, and the dining room got some fall-leaf decorations and bowls of candy corn today. Had Map and I not returned from the coast late yesterday, I might have had the foresight to buy a hat or a mask—I surely wished for one this morning.

       It's becoming too chilly to sit outside on the wall; there was but one man there when I drove in. After lunch, it was warmer but still the people were holed up inside.

       Approaching the refrigerator, I lay my hand on the door and sent up a prayer for sack lunches. There were 27! You do the math—I already had a turn.

       I didn't see Mr. Wilson today.

       There were two tiny toddlers. Joey had prepared bowls of big, spicy home fries for them. No, no, no. Digging through two boxes in the storage room, I found a little can of peaches, and some vegetable-beef soup. Minced slices of cheese and fork-mashed green beans finished off the baby plates. They ate too!

       Joey made deep-fried onion rings and corn dogs for lunch. He served slaw on the side. For dinner, he had chicken in the oven and green beans on the stove. It was make-do cooking at its best—certainly no stretching for nutrition.

       My fish-only fellow got fish. I gave him the big-eye as he was leaving. "I ain't doin' nothin'!" he said.

       "Yes, but I'm watching you," I reminded him. Something tells me he might be having a tough week—his usual dimpled grin was at half mast.

       The young pregnant woman came to volunteer, about mid-way through the serving. Her baby is due next week. When I left, she said "bye," and then she explained that she had finished serving her "time" and wouldn't be coming back except maybe to visit. And all along I was wondering why such a young woman with such loose ideas about survival would "volunteer" in a shelter kitchen. Now I know.

       Joey is finally reading a book I gave him months ago. I knew he'd love it, but even my reading to him the first page didn't entice him enough to put forth the effort. Today he said, "Miss Joy, I'm reading the book! One day I didn't have anything to do… [I knew he was waiting for a moment of desperation]… and I started reading it, and he's burned down the house! His little brother kept telling him no, but he did it anyway. He caught the curtains on fire and his grandma's sick and they found him by the chimney when the fire was out…" and on and on. Of course I've read the book, and I knew Joey would love it, but now Joey knows. Ain't it great?