Going to be very spotty on the blog as we approach the High Holiday. Everything is right on target, and this October has truly been the best ever. Savored every fast second of it.
Hoping there's dry weather for everyone (some rain in the forecast at the moment, though it's still too early to tell [but I keep checking {over and over again}]).
Just days away now...
Remember how that felt back in grade school? By this time, you could taste it. You were listening to spooky stories in classrooms where the teacher shut off the lights. You were drawing pumpkins, making napkin ghosts, and talking excitedly about the Big Night. You knew this was Christmas' crazy dark brother coming to town. And you knew you were going out unchaperoned. Unsupervised. No parents in sight. Small packs of friends sprinting up walkways and steps. Darting across streets filled with monsters. I can't recall how we mapped it all out. I think we just pointed ourselves in a certain direction and then hit up anything with a glowing porch light. I know we would be influenced by decorations, or by small hordes of kids on distant porches... "That must be good candy over there!"
We'd trick-or-treat until we were exhausted and drained. And until we were far away from home. I loved the magic of heading off into uncharted territory. Foreign streets and strange unknown houses. That was usually reserved for the end of the evening. So it felt extra dangerous. Dark pumpkins and unlit porches. And a damp coldness in the air. Like Halloween was slowly moving on. It was always bittersweet because, unlike Christmas, you knew (at least at THAT time) that your Halloweens were a finite resource... your days were numbered. There were expectations of maturing. Of growing up.
Sure there were other ways to celebrate Halloween as you got older - parties, horror movies, music, decorating, and Home Haunting. And even though those come really close sometimes to capturing that special feeling, nothing quite compares to the old magic of approaching a stranger's house, behind a dark costume, literally as someone other than yourself... and then getting candy for simply showing up.
That's one of the neatest parts of being a Home Haunter - you get to see and feel that excitement from the other side. And you realize you're a part of that magic for those kids. That you're a part of the screams and laughter. And that you might just be a part of the anticipation... for some boy or girl sitting in a classroom, drawing a pumpkin, and hoping that one house is doing it again.
