Pumpkin Time - Trick or Treat

Tomorrow is Halloween.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Halloween has been with us for a long time already.  Maybe that is because the pumpkin flavor has been with us for six weeks and the ever burgeoning quasi-holiday of trick or treat and dress up requires home decoration and even pet decorations.

Just what is going on here anyway?

I suppose this is my old man sour face phase, but to borrow a phrase "back when I was a kid" Halloween was noted in school and there were conversations about what we might 'be' on Halloween.  That was about it.  Our parents didn't dress up; decorate the house; and they didn't go to their Halloween parties.

Less than 20 years ago, and I think less than 10 - Halloween became it's own big deal.  I won't argue about how or why.  It just seems odd, that's all.  Maybe it goes back to the Middle Ages, or a desire of my generation to keep enjoying favorite parts of childhood.

You should observe the day.  Buy the great king-size candy bars and make your house the favorite stop on the block for the little ones.  Carve the biggest pumpkin you can find.  Take your kids or the kids of someone who can't take them around the block for trick or treating.

Here's a thought - reach out in your community and use the day as an excuse to do something nice for kids (and their families) who are having a tough go of it.

Perhaps some of Halloween's elevation in the national discussion is due in part to the dropping prominence of Christmas and Easter.

When days that were touchstones for nearly everybody fall to the wayside a little bit; others rise up to take their place.

Could be - I'm not sure.

Maybe this year for Halloween we can treat it as what it is - or used to be - a day of fun for children and dreaming what they might 'be' someday - that kind of treatment won't trick anybody.

Happy Halloween.