It's Definitely Halloween

Squirrels dash through the leaves in search of the acorns, or perhaps they are playing a forest animal form of tag.  Leaves crackle beneath our feet as we walk down the path leading from our neighborhood to the next.  The path is decked out in its finest fall attire, as are the trees, the ground, and the creek.  Yellows, oranges, and reds flash their colors against the dark ground and the vivid blue sky.  The sunlight filters through giving the scene a magical appearance - one that is only seen on a beautiful autumn day on a forest path.  

 

It is turning into a beautiful fall day - and will be a wonderful evening for trick-or-treating!

 

Throughout the month, we have watched the neighborhood transform itself into a world of ghosts, skeletons, tombstones, and interesting experiments of creativity.  Like the natural world prepares itself for winter with this last show of brilliant color, the neighborhood has been preparing itself for tonight, one mysterious night when children dress-up and enter a world of their imagination for a short period of time. 

 

The Diva loves Halloween.  She loves to dress up and walk around in her costume (She is a "star Princess" this year).  But mostly she likes the houses, the decorations, the creativity that some invest in making the evening exciting or eventful.

 

She has watched the houses very carefully.  She has noted each change and excitedly informed me of each additional detail that has appeared throughout the month.  She has designated a house that is our "end point" - it has a hand and a coffin.  Our journey tonight will include our neighborhood and the "fun neighborhood" next door, through the woods.  The journey will cover more than a mile in total.  But she is excited.  She wants to get to that house with the hand!

 

Living in an area that allows us to walk from house to house is a nice change for me.  I grew up trick-or-treating via car with costumes hidden beneath layers of winter clothing.  I remember the adults wondering if Halloween would come before the snow or visa versa.  People didn't decorate much or go all out in celebration of this day.  Most simply had candy. 

 

Halloween for the Diva is much different.  In our house, it is a day about being a kid.  I take her jacket but she doesn't have to wear it if she doesn't want to.  We walk with a LED lantern, though we don't need it until we break away from our neighborhood and the gang of kids that go from house to house and can only stay out for a small amount of time.  To me, this is an evening, an event, for her to enjoy for as long as she can. 

 

(It helps that the weather is nice, and that I don't mind walking around in the evening when it seems so very peaceful and quiet)

 

We will return home from our venture, laden with candy (usually the really good kind) and the Diva will sort through it all.  By weeks end she will have forgotten about all the candy (which will make its way to my office) but, she will remember the houses.  She will talk about the ghosts, the music, the decorations, what happened and this and that house... for her, the details truly do make the night.  (For me it is the chocolate - but that is another story!)

 

And tomorrow I will return to the world of the possessed computer with the mysterious poltergeist who has decided that I really didn't want google as my homepage despite what is documented in my preferences section!  (Too bad he won't disappear at midnight with the rest of his spooky friends)