Puttin’ on the Aladdin with Dad

This Saturday is Halloween, the last holiday with enough force to fight off Christmas.  Oh, sure, the stores have already started pulling the Halloween decorations and confining them to an area that will be 50% off territory come Sunday.  But unlike the other pre-Christmas holidays like Veterans Day and Thanksgiving, it’s become OK to hang up Christmas lights as soon as you’ve removed the rotting pumpkin from your front porch.

I come from a different time than today’s trick or treaters.  Charlie Brown’s “Great Pumpkin” adventure was brand-new when I was growing up.  Costumes were onesies with a plastic mask you could not see out of or breathe through.  But that was the price you paid for going around the block and asking the neighbors for some candy.

Looking back, I actually had really good timing when it came to this holiday.  “Back in my day” (I try to avoid using that term along with “Get off of my lawn”) there were no Bite Size candy bars.  You got candy bars. Or popcorn balls. Or full-size Sugar Daddy suckers.

It was when I reached that age of “Oh, this probably should be the last year” that the weirdo’s started happening.  People putting broken glass in with boxes of raisins or razor blades in apples.  What kind of freak does that kind of stuff?  It began the rapid decline of the holiday from a more innocent time, to safe trick or treating at the malls or taking your bag to the hospital for a free x-ray.

For a while when I lived in the Highlands neighborhood of Bothell, I was encouraged by how the neighbors and the area really got into Halloween. Seriously, it was a 6 Costco bag event, with kids from all over coming through, looking at our decorated houses and running around laughing and having an old-fashioned good-old time.

This Saturday, we’ll hear the door bell around a dozen times, end up with more candy than we want to have in the house at one time, which will find its way to my wife’s work.  I’ll answer the door with the fake knife sticking out of my head and watch in amazement as the littles ones look up and can’t believe what they see.  Sadly, it looks like most of them should dress up as Navy Seals, with a gully-washer of rain projected for the day, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.  Halloween is a pretty special night if you look in the right places

One of these years, I just might go join Linus in the pumpkin patch and watch for the Great Pumpkin.  But of course, only if he finds a really sincere one.

Last time to enjoy a holiday before Christmas. Make Halloween count!

Tim Haunter