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October 31, 2006
Candy Day
When I was a kid (which was quite a long time ago) I used to think of Halloween as “candy day.” That’s all it meant to me.
I was raised in one of those old-fashioned households where mom controlled everything we ate. She cooked all the dinners, made the school lunches, and was there to supervise the snacks when we came home from school.
Candy was definitely a “once in a great while” treat. True, we could buy a bag of Sugar Daddies for a nickel, but we had to earn that nickel ourselves, we never got an allowance. (My Dad’s reasoning was: why should I pay you to exist? You work, you get to eat. You do some extra work, you get paid. A little. Maybe.)
So once a year, my siblings and I would adopt various ghost, pirate, or monster costumes, and systematically roam the neighborhood in search of as much free candy as we could find. If someone dared give us an apple, we became quietly indignant.
The glory years were when I was old enough to escort my younger brothers and sisters (I am the oldest of six) but not too young to trick or treat myself. We would go to as many houses as we could before our legs gave out. We each ended up with our own personal mountain of candy, which took days to finish. We usually wound up with an upset tummy, but we endured and persevered until the candy mountain was vanquished, and we began the long, hungry wait for the next October 31.
This window of opportunity only lasted a few years, after which I became too old and too cool (well, too old anyway) to indulge in such childish balderdash.
Never in my childhood did I attach any satanic or evil connotation to Halloween. Sure, we dressed like ghosts, goblins and witches, and we said, “boo,” but no one was worried that we were falling into Satan worship or delving into witchcraft. We would go out trick-or-treating and then go to church the next Sunday, occasionally trying to smuggle a few pieces of candy into Sunday School.
I’ll be working in the studio tonight, and I probably won’t get any trick or treaters. We live out in the country, where the houses are too far apart. Not worth the effort.
Sheryl will be going to Oviedo to help our friend Asli (the blind rocket scientist) hand out Halloween candy. Our friend Spike (of “Sandz of Time”) will be trying to scare the kids by dressing up as a Scotsman, complete with kilt and authentic accent.
Nothing satanic about that. I think.
Happy Halloween. Christmas is coming!
BOO!!!
Posted by leon at October 31, 2006 11:04 AM