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Happy Trick or Treat or Halloween or All Hallowed Eve
By coolgranny in The Paradox of Long Lives
October 31, 2009

When I was a kid we all went trick or treating. We ran the neighborhood and made sure nothing abducted our brothers and sisters. I do recall telling them that sometimes little kids mysteriously disappeared and ending up in a witch's stew like Hansel and Gretel. I think big sisters were really the scariest part of Halloween.

As we got older, we would rig our house with sheet ghosts that would fly from the dark porch to the old ash tree out front. We would design a ghost maze in the garage for unsuspecting fools who thought a piece of candy was worth it. The eyeballs were skinned green grapes and baby oil, and the intestines were different kinds of boiled spaghetti. The brain was some old ball dipped in Vaseline, and the cut off finger was a badly mangled hot dog. The hands that tried to grab you were little brothers giggling the whole time. We used string for spider webs, and attempted to use makeup and zombie our faces. The eerie music was created by running 45s on 33rpm, and the scary music was 78's on 33rpm speed.

I guess I am thinking about this because my grands are all out of town and I won't see them until after the fact. All have been instructed to take lots of pictures. The community has so many activities to keep kids safe, and in the world we have now, it's a good idea.

It was not until I was an adult in bible study that I even learned about the Druids and the religious practices. I learned that the jack o'lantern came about to scare the dead away on this witching night. I guess a lot of excuses to party are based on medieval practices. I never thought too much about it until my youngest was a trick or treater. It seemed that the world had gotten a little more scary, and I was careful to keep an eye on him. My oldest papered many girlfriends' houses, and I was the getaway driver on more than one occasion. The youngest had the prank parts the easiest. The neighborhood was a big one, and the kids walked under cover of dark to torment a fellow classmate.

I continue to enjoy Halloween antics especially when I see my relatives dressed up in strange outfits like teletubbies. It is better than the tacky pimp and ho parties the bars have in this area. I would love to tell you that neither of my boys participated in this, but I would be lying. I was just shocked that the girlfriends would go along with it. Modest mom would always feel totally helpless when she told them to behave themselves. The giggles and laughter usually left a sinking feeling in my stomach.

There were no trick or treaters in my neck of the woods, and that leaves me way too much candy. I imagine all kids were out hitting the familiar neighborhoods and should be feeling real sugar rushes by now. Hope Victoria had a ghostly night.