Halloween "Trick or Treat"

Yes it’s that time again, fall when the weather changes to cooler nights and less humid days, an Indian summer feel. You dress the kids in warmer clothing in the morning and they are shed to their tees when they get home in the afternoon. Fall is when the air thins and the clouds thicken, the trees slowly turn to a quilt of many colors and college football is on every channel of the television on Saturday afternoon. I love the fall and the crisp evenings. The food changes somewhat in the fall, even though we cook our corn on the grill in the summer and we boil peanuts in the thick humidity of a summer’s day, they seem to taste better in the fall. The colors of brown and orange, yellow and black pepper the homes with the fall decorations. For many years my wife would put a harvest scene in the front yard, dried corn stalks, cotton stalks, pumpkins, hay bales, and a scarecrow to decorate for the season that was before us. Witches and goblins and flying ghost appear on the houses in anticipation of the night of trick or treat that all the little kiddies are waiting on. Yes, fall is my favorite time of the year; it just doesn’t last long enough.

When I was a youngster, the thought of Halloween was not only exciting, but the anticipated trips to the haunted house were thrilling. I remember one haunted house at our grammar school where we were blindfolded and walked into a room with weird moaning sounds. As we were being led through, the story was told of a person who was killed and mutilated right in that very room. The person leading would take our hand and place in a substance which we were told was their brains, then another gooey liquid that was their blood. I think you get the picture, pretty scary for a kid of seven or eight. We all left the room not traumatized but in awe of the journey we had just taken. The truly inspiring part is we never needed to talk to a grief counselor afterwards. We all discussed what our costumes would be and most of them we made ourselves or our mother made them. If you were lucky enough to get a store bought one then you were the envy of everyone else. There were ghosts and goblins, witches and mummies, all types of scary creatures roamed the streets of the neighborhoods on this festive evening. We always stayed in our neighborhood, made our rounds and then home for bed because after all we did have school the next day. We knew which house gave the best candy and which house didn’t participate in the celebration, thus the term “Trick or Treat.” Our tricks were not really hurtful; an occasional lawn chair on their roof or their water being turned on, but nothing in the way of permanent destructive damage was ever imposed. Halloween was fun.

It seems today this has all changed. Parents refuse to allow their little kiddies to participate in this evil day of celebration, they are afraid to let the ghost and witches costumes adorn the evening because it is a pagan holiday. Now granted if my child came home and started performing rituals of the satanistic kind in their bedroom behind closed doors, I would definitely rethink my stance. However, we had plenty of trick or treaters when I was young grow up to be good and devout teachers of the Christian religion, preachers if you will. The pranks and bags of candy, even the scary costumes did not throw them to the Dark Side. I am amazed at the parents who themselves participated in this evil pagan holiday, yet refuse to allow their children to enjoy the fun of growing up. My children were allowed to enjoy the childish fun of Halloween and they turned out just fine. Halloween is a fun, enjoyable time, where the little girls dress as princesses and fairies and the little boys power rangers and knights. My son dressed one year as a black-eyed pea, blacked one eye and put a “P” on his shirt, such a cute little rascal. So come on parents, give these kids a break and let them enjoy this classic fall holiday of “Trick or Treat” the holiday is a fun time for kids. I must close this blog now because I am working on my costume; I am dressing up as an adult.

Life Happens!