Halloween in Fairfax

I happened to be at my parents' house on Halloween night, and was given the task of passing out candy to the little trick or treaters.  My mom bought six bags of candy, and I thought that was way too much.  But sure enough, at 6:30 p.m. there was a knock at the door, and before I knew it, the candy was almost gone. The kids who stopped by were pretty darn cute, but they made me feel out of touch in terms of 2011 cartoon knowledge.  I asked a little girl with blue Pippy Longstockings braids who she was supposed to be, and she held up a tiny doll dressed like her.  "I'm a Loully," she said.  Duh.  Well, okay. I left the bowl of Halloween candy out next to the door, and the next day my mom called to tell me that Rain the dog had eaten all the candy when no one was looking, wrappers and all.  Luckily, I had handed out most of it.  I'd also eaten a good chunk of the candy, including all the dark chocolate, which is dangerous for dogs.  So poor Rain had no adverse effects from her little Halloween adventure. "Some might say that I'm a hero for eating the candy so the dog didn't end up eating it," I told Joe. "You know, if you had put the bowl away in the first place, the dog wouldn't have gotten into it at all," he said. Hmm, yes.  We aren't used to misbehaving dogs.  I suppose this is a good a time as any to note that our beloved dog Hunter has passed on to the rainbow bridge - Halloween would've been his 16th birthday.  That is really old for a dog, I know, but I had begun to believe he would never die.  He'd just always been there, for the majority of my life.  I've been meaning to write a little tribute to him, but let's just say he was practically perfect, much-loved and had the best life a dog could ever have.  He would never have eaten the candy.  Now that Hunter is gone, Rain has no role models in her life and is clearly acting out.