Happy Hearty and Safe Halloween

I found a lovely stock photo that encapsulated some of the magical qualities of Halloween for me.  It's not a scary illustration, but one that shows the warmth, radiance, and mystery of this time of year.  Who lives in that lonely house on the hill?  Will kids be able to go there for trick-or-treating?  Are those fairies flying off into the night sky to shine a bright path that will lead Halloween night owls to the house's door?  

One more day before my favourite day of the year!  It's Halloween everybody and instead of feeling frightened, my feet are restless in anticipation of a walk through my neighbourhood to see all the kiddies dressed up as miniature ghouls and storybook characters.  It's always lovely to watch the little tykes dragging their already full pillow cases of candy up the stairs of homes with gleaming jack-o-lanterns and dollar-store decor!  Even better when the doors open and I can take a peek into the warm light of a family home that's alive with laughter, music, and colourful bowls filled with the Mars bar series, and other assorted goodies.

I remember having had only ONE opportunity to go trick-or-treating.  I was in the 8th grade, and my best friend and I decided to dress up in Elizabethan dress for men.  We wore tights underneath these heavy, but very fancy, velvet with gold trimming tunics.  All we needed was the Henry VIII facial hair - well I already had some of that being a brown girl and all!  It was a cold night, as to be expected, but we were warm underneath our royal refinery.  We had pillow cases, too.  It was like a dream come true for me!  I remember years before when my sister and I used to pray that we'd be allowed to go trick-or-treating someday!  When our mom overheard us, she was dismayed by our desire to participate in such a superstitious Western custom, and told us it was rather sinful of us as Muslims to pay homage to ghosts and witches.  We weren't thinking of that, of course, we just wanted candy!  So, finally, I got my chance.  My mom had eased up a bit on her puritanism, and my dad wasn't around to keep me tethered on a leash.  I was actually FREE for the night and ready to roam!

When Jenn - my best gal friend at the time (she was awesome! and still is!) - met up, we went all around the Cole Harbour and Eastern Passage area of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  I got a chance to see the long-haired red-head dude I was so obsessed with.  He even recognized me in my get-up but yawned when he saw me and then got into his gray camaro.  My eyes sprang out of their sockets when I saw him, and if it weren't for Jenn to pull me back to the mission at hand, namely to score as much kiddie sugar as possible, I would have spent the entire night chasing after my luscious-locks Romeo as he drove that 80s motor machine at his usual slow n' steady speed so he could check out all the "action" on his block.

Well, back to the present...

Since I live in an apartment, I can't really welcome any kids and give them treats, but I think this year, I'm going to step out for a moment to take in all the excitement, listen to the laughter all across the streets, and the screams too when scarecrows on porches suddenly become alive!  I'm going to walk through the smaller, cozy streets, see the candle flames dancing in the frame of small stained-glass windows, hear the creaks of heavy doors opening, and smell the sweet, beckoning fragrance of freshly-baked apple pie.  Maybe some folks might be enjoying a glass of wine as they sit on their porches, wrapped in woolen shawls, waiting for their neighbours' kids to come by, or maybe waiting for their own kids to come back!

I guess the best part is when the kids do come back and nearly rip those pillow cases to shreds as they pick through the loot to select those one or two delectable pieces that would be permitted as a snack before it's time to vigorously brush those candy-crusted teeth and get to bed.  School the next day would bring even more excitement as the kiddies think about what treats they could exchange, share with, or even just give as gifties to their classmates.  There needs to be more giving and sharing, I think :)

Halloween always rounds up so nicely, every year, and maybe one year, I'll spend it with my niece back in Vancouver as we explore her neighbourhood, collect some good treats and some not-so-good-seriously-unhealthy treats, and maybe create some sparkling, fairy-dust adventures along the way.  Here's wishing all of you, your families, and the kiddies in your lives a Happy Hearty and Safe Halloween!