Random Thoughts of Halloween

1. Maybe October isn't the best time of year for Halloween. Blizzards, Hurricanes, just plain cold weather. What's the point of dressing up in a great costume if you have to wear a snowsuit over it?

2. My favorite place to celebrate Halloween? Florida. See #1. Hurricanes could be a problem, but snowsuits? Never. Great place for a little princess costume.

3. Jack-o-lanterns. Best place for them? In the North. You can watch them shrink and shrivel into toothless old people after Halloween is over. Not so in Florida where after one night of fun they grow stinky, fast!

4. Remember when you created a costume from old sweaters, bad wigs, or cardboard boxes? Or you bought the cheesy plastic ones at K-Mart? Not anymore. Thanks to Party City or the Internet there is nothing you can't buy! My grandson dressed as a tractor this year. Yep... That's what I said. A tractor. John Deere of course. My daughter found it online. She had planned to make it out of a box, but Costume Express to the rescue!

5. Trunk or Treat--I'm about to upset your candy basket. Just a thought here... trunk or treat is meant as a safe alternative to going door to door in the neighborhood. It is usually done by a community or a church but does anyone get the irony here?
We teach our kids not to take candy from a stranger and not to go up to a stranger's car, and then we take them trick or treating at a stranger's car to get candy. It just seems funny to me.

6. When you get right down to it, Halloween is probably the least safe thing we let kids do (besides play tackle football, but I'm not going there so relax!). First we dress them in costumes that impede their vision and often their movement. At dusk, the hardest time of the day to see pedestrians, we walk up and down the street collecting candy from strangers. We are so concerned by this that we go home and sort through the candy looking for booby-traps and throw out anything suspicious. But...

7. Parents are Involved and that's the key to a happy halloween. Trick or Treat, Trunk or Treat, Candy night at the mall, or a Fall Festival in costume... Having fun with your kids is what Halloween is all about.

8. The Great Pumpkin Trade-off -- A Great Tradition
Last year I witnessed my daughter's family tradition for the first time. After Nicholas went trick or treating he came home with a bag full of candy. Mom and Dad checked it for 'bad stuff' and then Nicholas went through it and sorted out all the candy he didn't like. This candy was left in a bowl for the Great Pumpkin. While Nicholas slept the Great Pumpkin came and took all of his extra unwanted candy to give to boys and girls who needed candy. In return he left Nicholas a small gift. For Nicholas it was a Hot Wheels car, (what else?). What a great way to clear out the junk!

I hope you
A. Had a great halloween
B. Survived Hurricane Sandy/Snowicane Sandy/Tropical Storm Sandy or whatever weather you had to put up with or,
C. Live in Florida where a Halloween costume is always more important than the weather

Halloween

Last night was Halloween and it is a fun night around here. Many of the neighborhoods have adopted a terrific custom of sitting outside during trick or treat. The first year we lived here it took us by surprise and we thought perhaps it was a Pittsburgh thing, but I've found many people who still stay in their houses and let the kids come to them.

In our neighborhood starting around 5:30 people start setting out their chairs and readying the pumpkins. Then just at 6:00 everyone appears. If the garage is facing the street, people will turn on their garage light and sit there, but the rest of us gather near the sidewalks with our bowls of candy and a beverage or two. If it's cold, like last night, we just bundle up for awhile. (The Florida folks may be a bit more  bundled than others!) If it's warm some neighbors may have a cooler by the candy bowl and pass out some cold beverages to the adults! Now, that's a neighbor! By half way around the block the dad's are usually ready for a refill!

Last night was cool, but clear. The sunset was gorgeous. The hill behind our house was picking up the colors with increased intensity. A small group of us gathered and just watched it change as the sun set. The sun's rays lit up the tree trunks, the fallen leaves on the hillside and the leaves still on the trees turning everything a flaming burnt orange. As the sun went down the orange turned to a rich burgundy. It was amazing. I wished I had a camera in hand but there wasn't time to grab one, and I doubt I could have caught the feeling so we just watched and enjoyed it.

Then we settled in as the first of the munchkins appeared. Maggie enjoys Halloween as well. Most of the kids like seeing her, but occasionally I back her away from the treat table while Larry hands out the candy to the more timid ones. A few people have parties after trick or treat and a couple of the visiting adults come by to make 'my annual visit to see Maggie'. She is famous in her own right.

Most of all what I love about Halloween here is the sense of community. A patrol car usually makes the rounds, lights flashing. Parents walk with the young kids but even the older ones are so safe. They are never out of sight of a neighbor as they go from house to house. Sitting outside for trick or treat has become one of my favorite new tradtions.