All Hallow's Eve

The rain stopped earlier this afternoon, just in time for the children in this subdivision to enjoy an evening of trick-or-treating. I'm glad it cleared up for their sakes. If they felt like I did as a child, this night was a special one where they could dress up in costume and fill their sacks with candy and other goodies...

Yes, I know all the arguments against Halloween trick-or-treating so I'm not going to address those issues. All I want to think about tonight is the fun of knowing that a child can dress up and pretend to be someone totally different than they are in real life. That a child can get a free piece of candy or other treat for no other reason than custom. That for once, the child (with a parent) can knock on a door and expect to get something for nothing.

Actually, the homeowner who answers the door gets quite a treat themselves. I find it interesting to see what types of costumes the children wear. Some are very elaborate. Others are simply thrown together from odds and ends that a parent has around the house. Sometimes, the parents get dressed up too.

When I was a child, we sometimes played tricks. But what tricks!!! Can you imagine the unsophistication of a child who has a wallet or purse attached to a string, who puts the purse on a porch, rings the doorbell and hastily runs to the side of the house to wait for the occupant to open the door. We expected the person who opened the door to be totally surprised that there should be a purse on his doorstep. We wanted him to reach down to pick it up and we would pull the string and snatch the purse from his outstretched hand!!! Did it ever work that way? Nooooo...

Sometimes, bad boys in the neighborhood would soap up a car or move things off a porch... things like that. I don't remember anything really destructive that was done. Sometimes, the local playground which was not far from my home, had Halloween activities too. I spent a lot of time at that playground when I was growing up. There was a woman there who taught crafts and games to us and made sure that we had plenty to do.

I was shocked several years ago when people began finding razor blades and other things in apples and candy bars. Who would want to hurt children like that. Events like that changed trick-or-treating forever. One couldn't just enjoy the evening. Now one had to instruct their children NOT to accept fruit or any unwrapped candy. When my grandchildren brought home their treats, everything was emptied on the table and anything suspicious was discarded immediately. Such a shame that children had to be made aware that some folks do mean things.

Anyway, I was happy to see the few who ventured down my street tonight. They were greeted with a smile from me and a compliment on their costumes and a wish that they have lots of fun tonight. Too soon, these children will grow up to discover a world that is not the carefree world of childhood.