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Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 - 8:30 a.m. Hallween is All Good!
Halloween used to be my favorite time of year,
next to Christmas. Looking back, it has to be the dressing up part.
As a little girl I had a huge bag of my mom's old clothes in my closet and loved
to play dress up. I had pants, and shirts and old dresses (a couple of
which I am steamed she later gave away after I went to college: yes, that
is how long I kept them.) Its that way with all little girls, yes?
But, that sense of fun never really left me as in high school and college I
always donned costumes when I could. And now, with my theatrical life, I
can put costumes on at any time of the year. Too bad Cosplay wasn't around
when I was young and carefree or I would have been all into it. But
Halloween was always fun for me. Pity I was always such a goody two shoes
and never really used the occasion to engage in bad behavior, but yet always
availed myself to be designated driver (even won a special award on a band trip
for my ongoing services in that regard when I was a senior in High School) for
any of my friends who felt the need to indulge, as teenagers are wont to do.
Still, one can have a good time when one's head is in the game and unencumbered
by chemicals. Trick or treating when I was a kid was
something we did all over the neighborhood and you could hand out anything back
then including apples and popcorn balls. Granted, it was best that you got
those things from people you knew, but, you could still do it. However, I
remember that we were not allowed to eat the Pixie Stix we received because back
then, the tubes were not sealed shut and Ronald Clark O'Bryan had recently
killed his son with cyanide laced Pixie Stix. We also collected money for UNICEF
with little cardboard boxes we picked up from church. Only rarely did you
happen upon a house with a sign on the door stating that they were a Christian
family who did not participate in the Satanic or Pagan goings on that was
Halloween so please do not knock. Funny, I grew up in a Christian family
as well (granddaughter of a Methodist minister to be exact) and WE never saw it
like that. It was just a night to dress up and get candy, and have
fun. I think it was as much fun for the adults as it was for the
kids. One of my most vivid memories of Trick-or-Treating happened
when I was about 5. We knew our next door neighbors very
well (its just not like that anymore unfortunately) and dad took us there
straight away to ring the doorbell. She answered the door dressed as the
Wicked Witch of the West, complete with green face and black pointy hat, and I SCREAMED
and ran off to hide behind my dad who was standing some feet away watching.
I don't remember if he was able to talk me into going back up to
the door to get the candy though. It was pretty traumatic. I was
only 5 after all. It used to be the most hooliganistic behavior
on Halloween night was the annual neighborhood shaving cream fight that occurred
at our intersection in our subdivision around 9 or 10 that night amongst the
teenagers, but who were probably still too young to drive. A lot of this
happened in our front yard much to the chagrin of my parents who were none too
keen on having shaving cream settling into the grass. There was probably
toilet paper involved as well but I suppose mom and dad just sucked it up
and went and hosed down the lawn in the morning. I don't recall ever
participating in this activity, most likely because I was not allowed to do so,
or by the time I was old enough, it didn't happen anymore. Oh were that
all the bad behavior that happens now on Halloween. A massive shaving
cream duel is nothing, NOTHING compared to how some use the night to be
assholes. Halloween eventually became more and more a
night of rioting, vandalism, and law breaking by many who saw it as an excuse
for bad behavior, but has never been a night that many religious fundamentalists
would claim a night of Satanic happenings. But, I am happy to say that I
perceive that this has gotten better and now that I am a parent, I am excited to
have my kids continue this time honored tradition. Last year we tried to
get Travis
to go out Trick-or-Treating, but as soon as we were done taking those
pictures, he started throwing a fit, so we had to abandon the idea. This
morning when he woke up, I asked him if he knew what today was, and he said,
"Halloween." I asked him if he knew what he was going to be for
Halloween, and he said "Harry Potter." So there it is. My
kid is going as Harry Potter tonight, and the wee one will be dressed in some
Halloween jammies to go out. I am really excited. I can't wait to
see them all dressed. Hopefully they will get as much happiness out of it
as I once did. |
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- - Wednesday, May. 21, 2008
More updates on another blog home. - Wednesday, Feb. 06, 2008 Where are my zzzzzz's? - Thursday, Nov. 08, 2007 Halloween '07 - Friday, Nov. 02, 2007 Hallween is All Good! - Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 |
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