Halloween, 2018

Each year on Halloween, I hang my bat wreath on the door, place the big bowl of candy next to the door, sweep the leaves from the sidewalk, plunk my jester hat (complete with bells and lights) on my head, then sit at my computer desk waiting for the ghoulies and ghosties to knock.  And when the onslaught is over, I prepare my After-Action Report about the highlights and lowlights of the evening's activities.

The weather is 53 degrees and has been gloomy/misty most of the day, although now dry for the costumed visitors.  I can officially say that there were more fallen leaves on the sidewalk to my door this year than there were last--but many less than the years previous to that.  We've had a slow autumn!

Most of the trick-or-treaters to darken my front stoop this evening have been the older variety.  One group was actually a party of eight younger teen girls.  Earlier, one lone boy had a voice that had changed into manhood.  (Now that I think of it, there were quite a few deep-voiced critters at the door.)  What I noticed this year, unlike some years, was that these older youngsters were well-behaved, well-mannered, and cheery.  One even turned back to wave at me as she reached the street upon departure.  That was nice.

Also--purely conjecture of course--I have observed that this may be the first year that I have failed to guess several costumes because...shall we say...society is passing me by?  I always try to establish what the children represent in their costumes.  I'm sorry to say, I missed a few this year!

Miss #1:  (Young man dressed up like a cardinal [bird])
Me:  Let's see...you are a cardinal!
Kid:  Nooooo....
Me:  (Thinking of my Alma Mater's mascot)  Then you're a redbird!
Kid:  Nooooo....
Kid:  I'm Angry Bird!
Me:  Of course!  I knew that!  HAHAHAHAHA!  (Truth be known, I had no clue.  I mean, I've heard of the game, but had never played it.  How was I supposed to know that?  DUH!)

Miss #2:  (Three children at the door.)  The tallest was the scarecrow, from The Wizard of Oz, in the cutest homemade scarecrow costume I've ever seen.  The second tallest was most obviously Dorothy from the same movie.  And the littlest one--maybe five years old, dressed in black and somewhat hiding behind the scarecrow--I guessed to be Toto, Dorothy's dog.  WRONG!  He stepped forward, stuck his chest out to show the word SWAT in big white letters and said, indignantly,  "I'm a SWAT guy!"  By way of excusing myself for my stupid error, I said, "But it would have been cute if you'd been Toto, because here is Scarecrow, and here is Dorothy.....  Or you could have been the lion or the tin man."  He looked at me with such innocence.  I could tell nothing was getting through, so
I said, "Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?"  He admitted that he had not the slightest notion.  I chuckled to myself.  Talk about feeling ancient!!

Miss #3:  (My granddaughter is just going to have to forgive me for this one.)  The young lady at the door was dressed as Hermione, a character from a Harry Potter book.  In my own defense, I've never read Harry Potter books, nor have I seen any of the movies...and didn't really get a good look at the costume before someone in her group volunteered who she was supposed to be.  If I'd had a few more seconds to think, I would have guessed "a character from Harry Potter".  Really.  I would have.  (That's my story.  I'm sticking to it!)

I also had a "near miss":  One kid took one look at me and realized that I could never guess who he was supposed to be, so he just blurted out that he was So-and-So, and even volunteered that So-and-So was a character in a computer game.  Thank you, kind young'un, for thinking fast on your feet and saving me from what would surely have been my Senile Embarrassment!

Also apparent on Halloween is how times have changed since I was a kid.  All of the younger children were accompanied by adults, who stood on the sidewalk by the street while their children approached the door.  MOST of those adults, while not trick-or-treating, were in costume.  When I was a kid, I had an older sister that was expected to take me trick-or-treating.  Our parents never went.  (I expect they enjoyed the hour or two of solitude!)  I think I would have been delighted if my folks had ever put on costumes to take us out shamelessly asking for candy at every door, but it was a different time.

I also notice parents' training when it comes to the little ones.  I won't give out candy to kids until they first say, "Trick or treat".  I want to keep the tradition alive.  If someone knocks and forgets to say it, I always ask, "What do you say"?  Both last year and this, I've had to coach the really young ones.  Most of the time, they say...."Please?"

Another encounter with a young cutie tonight showed what her parents were thinking.  My guess is that she was five or so.  She was with slightly older kids, but when she held out her bag, it was totally empty.  I commented on it.  She said, "I know.  That's because I dumped it in my mom's backpack."  I suspect she was required to do so.  Smart!  Like a money dump in a store, so there's not so much in the register in case of a robbery.  Kid deposits candy with Mom so Mom can dole it out later.  Kid can't eat it before Mom has a chance to inspect it.  Several problems solved!

And in the Cute Department, I had a T-or-T'er who arrived at the door in one of those huge Tyrannosaurus Rex costumes.  The only part of him that was visible was his face, from his ears forward.  OMG!  What an adorable little face it was!  Totally reminded me of my grandson at that age!  Hope he had a fun night!

The one downer I had was a woman--an adult--who showed up at the door.  There were two children there at the same time, but she didn't seem to be with them.  She barely even grunted at me.  I make it a point to give candy to anyone who knocks because we never know the circumstances.  Whatever...

My favorite door visitor was a teenaged young lady who wasn't in costume at all.  She was wearing her (Plainfield High School) marching Bands of America hoodie.  I commented on her non-costume.  She mumbled, "I'm masquerading as a band kid who actually has one night off."  I chuckled in recognition.  I know how hard and how long marching bands work, and this is competition season for them, which means even longer and harder hours.  I gave her double candy!

Halloween of 2018 is in the books.  I still have a few pieces of candy left, which are earmarked for the Homeless Feeding Mission that my co-grandparent Phil takes care of at our church.

May the ghost of Halloween turn into the saint of tomorrow (All Saint's Day) for you.  And I hope you had what is now known as a Happy Halloween!

And, of course, Happy Birthday in Heaven to my brother who would have turned 65 today.  Eligible for Medicare!  I miss you, Doug.