I’m struggling trying to write about Halloween this year. Mostly because it would be my third Halloween that I’ve written about, so how do you find something fresh to say?
One of the things that is great about Halloween up here (and at times infuriating) is that it is scheduled. Trick or treating was between 5 and 7 pm, so there was no guessing as to how long I’d have to be near the door. The scheduling of Halloween also means that it doesn’t necessarily happen on Halloween. If Halloween falls on a Sunday it is "rescheduled" for the Saturday or Monday. There is a small segment of the community who literally believe that kids dressing up in costume and going door to door for candy is devil worship. They would ban it outright if they thought they could.
There was slightly more than a hundred and fifty kids at the door, and we gave away about 8 kilograms of candy, but darn it all we didn’t have rockets this year, so I have to do without. There was at least one repeat customer that I recognized despite the change of costume (heck, if I though I could have got away with it when I was a kid i would have) and one 20 year old trick or treater (never lose your youth). It was great, wonderful costumes and something truly for the kids. Oh I know there was hyperactive kids the next day, and sugar hangovers after that, but hey how often do kids get to go around and beg for candy from strangers, with our blessings. Devil worship indeed.
At 7:15 the costume judging took place at the gym. I didn’t make it there this year, as it looked as though Hilary was going down for a nap. Leah did go however, and brought back one picture of some of the fantastic costumes. The costumes here are, hmm, wild and I encourage you to go to my posts linked above for descriptions of them. Kennie of Tales from the Arctic has posted pictures on her blog, so go take a look.
Now where is that pentagram?