The day after Halloween…probably teachers’ least-favorite day, what with all the kids on sugar highs. Well, at least we don’t have to hear Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s tiresome “Monster Mash” for another year.

Meanwhile, things are collapsing all around us here in PT. Meaning all those deflated witches, pumpkins, vampires, etc. in locals’ yards. Frightful. And all those outsized supermarket candy displays will now be sold off post haste to make room for salty snacks/Seahawks endcaps.

But deflated outdoor decorations will soon be replaced by our impressive holiday light displays — a fine antidote for the long nights here.

Canceled ferry runs here are often blamed just on shortage of crew, weather conditions, and having only one boat on the run to Coupeville. We’ve endured a lot of them. But don’t just blame these cancellations on insufficient crew, says former mayor Michelle Sandoval.

“Blame Tim Eyman’s 1999 Prop 695,” she says with disgust. “It cancelled the Motor Vehicle Excise tax, and we have never replaced those funds for ferries, roads, and mental health funding.

“We’ve moved the ferries around because we now have old boats. We need a bunch of new ones. The ferries are in dire straits. We used to have three boats here. Now we have one.

“We’ve moved ferries around because we have old ferries. The chickens have come home to roost,” she says. Hard to argue.

Having failed my A1C test last spring and moved into Diabetes 2 land, it’s sweet (so to speak) that Jefferson Healthcare has such a strong diabetes-education program, headed by Jennifer Newell. I’ve taken her informative and educational classes, which also include a nutritionist. My blood sugar and weight have both declined, thanks to Newell.

One valuable health resource, however, we’re losing: Fyzical physical therapy, on upper Sims Way. A real shame to be without first-rate physical therapist Janet Crosier. The business is retreating back to its Sequim office.

And speaking of Costco City, it’s worth the five-minute drive from big-box land to check out the new, imposing Dungeness River Nature Center, as we did the other day. You are met at the entrance with a sign reading, “Don’t Pet the Coyote.”

Fortunately, the taxidermist got to this wily predator ahead of us. It’s an impressive resource, with great bird displays, a 3-D map of the Olympic Peninsula, snack bar, and the great railroad-bridge trail just steps away.

Speaking of flora and fauna, the white flag (not for surrender) under the U.S flag at Mountain View school is proclaiming PT as “Tree City USA.” by the Arbor Day Foundation.

“There were 40 people in my water aerobics class the other day,” says one local swimmer, impressed. Our pool is also aging, and needs to be replaced. We are surrounded by water here, and the YMCA-run pool has been expanding services, so more and more residents, here and elsewhere, are all wet.

Kids’ swimming lessons — also known as drownproofing— are drawing good numbers. The new pool being considered will not, as one right-wing publication posits, cost about the same as an F-16. The City Council and County Commissioners are, fortunately, aware that there’s strong local support for our busy pool.

Finally, every time I see that pharma ad for Vraylar (no idea what it’s for), I could swear Vraylar sounds like something that battles Godzilla.

(PT humorist Bill Mann welcomes hearing from you. Where? Try Newsmann9@gmail.com)