Clean Up on Aisle 13

Halloween Clean Up!

Another holiday over, and it's on to Thanksgiving and ....Christmas?  Can it be?

  Isn't fun to see kids dressed up, going door to door and getting big smiles when we give them candy?  That's the traditional Halloween I remember as a child myself.  Except we had those stupid plastic masks that made it hard to see and breath!   And my costume was usually something from around the house - it made for interesting creativity.  I have a picture of my brother dressed as a women, purse, high heels and all!  IT IS PRIME BLACKMAIL MATERIAL!  My church usually had a Halloween party in somebody's barn with skinned grapes for eyeballs and pasta for ...hmmm..I'm not sure what that was for, but it didn't feel good to the touch when you where blindfolded.  And of course, there was the tub of water to bob for apples.  Whoever thought that would be fun on a cold Iowan night?  But the best was last, the bonfire.  And the s'mores.  Life doesn't get any better than that!
This week I watched a TV show that had a celebration at the end - a Halloween party.  But none like I've ever been to; the participants brought a picture of a deceased loved one and they placed them together with some candles.  They did a toast to those they loved, or said something about what their loved one enjoyed in life.  It was a neat celebration of a life not forgotten.  It was just a show, but I like the tradition it portrayed.    And just as they did a toast to their loved ones, I wish to remember the Halloweens of my childhood; where Halloween was just for fun, free candy and get togethers.  Nothing scary, nothing gory, just a chance to dress up and be someone else for a day.  It was a day to look funny, imitate someone we knew (highest form of a compliment, you know), or be what you wanted to be when you grew up.   I think if I had dressed up Thursday, I would have dressed up as a photographer!  And maybe I would have captured some memories of a childhood not forgotten, where Halloween is just fun, candy, trick or treating, and of course, Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin.