I absolutely love the Holiday Halloween. When I was a child and we went trick or treating - in our neighborhood Halloween was fun and it was something to look forward too. Our neighbors although not rich and mostly always struggling financially were very generous.
In the old days (times have changed so much that I find myself writing this phrase) Halloween was not just about knocking on doors and walking away with a piece of candy – in our neighborhood – many people invited you inside and actually offered treats. It was not unusual for someone to offer hot chocolate or a piece of cake.
It was not so uncommon for example after many years of trick or treating – to not know exactly the name of a woman who lived in a certain house you were approaching; but hoped she was giving out candy apples like she did in previous years. Certain houses had especially good reputations for the delicious treats that were so generously shared. We (us children) remembered who gave away homemade cookies and who offered drinks such as apple cider or hot chocolate. We received rolls of pennies, apples, nuts and my favorite candy bar – “almond joy”.
I dreaded the thought of ever being too old to go trick or treating. And as luck would have it – just when I was about the age of 12 when it was no longer cool to go out – It was me who took my baby sister trick or treating. And as she got older and started to get too cool to go out we were given young cousins to go trick or treating with.
I love Halloween. It’s the one time of year you can dress up and play pretend and its okay to dress up and play pretend.
People go through all kinds of artistic endeavors to create their Halloween persona – it’s a time to be who you want to be or even face your fears.
Drag Queens love Halloween – they get to legitimately come out and dress in their finest without fear of anyone thinking anything is wrong. Have a fear of clowns? Dress up like one for Halloween.
The old world pagan traditions used Halloween (the Eve of All Souls Day) – to dress up in the very things they were afraid of – ghosts, monsters etc….
And of course the best thing about being a parent of a cute little baby is how much power you have over decorating your sweet little babies. Oh what fun I had creating costumes that were made from various pieces of material that were cut, sewn, or glued. I had dressed my babies in costumes such as a rabbit, a lobster and even a chocolate chip cookie with a bite taken out. The fun was being as creative as I could, spend as little as possible and the reward and joy I would get would be when people would make such a fuss over how cute my kids were.
This period of time is short lived. Soon I had to surrender to the pull of the cheaply made store bought version of whatever costume my children would want to wear. Once my children started developing an opinion muscle – I had to eventually give in and let them dress up for Halloween the way they wanted.
The smell of wood burning, bellys full and warm with homemade soup - setting out to trick or treat in the crisp air, bright stars in the sky – the crunch of leaves on the ground as we walk from house to decorated house – engaging in a conversations with neighbors while parading in the company of ghosts, cats, nurses, various monsters and kings amid other characters screaming and squealing. The Halloween tradition continues.
So on this Eve of Hallow Souls I will look forward to ending a perfect evening with a hot cup of cocoa and plenty of candy in my daughter's bag to rummage through.
A beautiful Halloween night indeed.
I wish you a Blessed Halloween Season!!
Marguerita (Daisy Rita) Nanfara
aka Queen Daisy from Belgium
