Holidays Are On the Rise (Part 1)
I guess it should say something along the lines of “Holidays Are A-Comin’!” because the holidays were always here, it’s not like there’s a new one that was created. But regardless, here they come…
I have come to the realization that I do not like Halloween. I used to enjoy dressing up, trick-or-treating, eating candy (duh!) and carving pumpkins. My mom would set up a card table in the garage with newspapers spread on top so that the pumpkin guts wouldn’t get all over the place. I still remember the way my fingers would become numb by the time I was finished with my design. The cool fall air would slip in underneath the garage door and the slimy pumpkin insides were just about frozen. A couple of years we saved the pumpkin seeds, cleaned them up and baked them. I also helped decorate the upstairs and deck area so that the kids would know where to come to get the grab-bag of candy that we put together with 10 different bit-sized candy bars inside.
One year, me and all my cousins got together at Carrie’s house and we created a haunted golf-cart ride for the trick-or-treaters. Everyone was in on it, playing a part to scare the kiddies.
Another year, my Uncle Danny got dressed up in jeans and a flannel shirt, boots, gloves and a scary mask. He took hay and stuffed it in his shirt and pant cuffs so that it looked like he was a stuffed body and sat in the dark so that he was just barely visible. When the trick-or-treaters got to the front door, before they could ring the bell, he’d leap up and scream!
These days, I am petrified of scary movies and can not sleep if I have seen something so creepy that it haunts my visions whether I am awake or trying to sleep. A friend of mine from work made me see the recent version of Friday the 13th and I was practically sitting in her lap the entire time. I am so gullible, even the predictable scenes had me jumping.
Since moving to California, we have not been in a house, apartment or our current condo that has enticed trick-or-treaters to stop by and beg for candy. I bought some candy for the first Halloween in our condo and no one came. I even turned on all the lights to make our home look inviting, but still, no takers. I felt like it was such a waste of money on all that candy that no one got to eat….well, I ate most of it….any-who….I wanted to pass out candy and didn’t get to! That was the first and last time I bought candy after moving to California with the intent to hand out to strangers. Now I just buy it for myself as a snack!
This year I think that I might pick up a pumpkin and carve it. I have this desire to share this childhood pastime of mine with Cali. I think she may not be into it after the initial sniff, but the idea of smelling the pumpkin, baking the seeds and having a decorative jack-o-lantern on our front step sounds so inviting. I might need to pick up a pumpkin-spice candle to help get Ryan in the mood–who asked why I can’t buy a plastic pumpkin to avoid the smell. Because that is no fun, Ryan! He just doesn’t get it.
However, if I put a pumpkin on the front step, will that draw in the trick-or-treaters? I might have to re-think that…I’m either all-in (pumpkin & candy) or not in at all (no pumpkin & no candy).
