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After the Candy
Well I was wrong about this year's Halloween festivities. Not once was I forced to stare down an egg wielding neighbor or hustle my kids away from someone spouting invective intended mostly for me. Things in my neck of the woods were actually quite pleasant, even if the weather was somewhat indifferent.
Today, though I found myself in a funny conversation about Halloween. Someone I knew had an out-of-town Halloween, which she felt was really authentic, and a real embodiment of the holiday. Since I was just looking to get through the day with enough fun and as little unpleasantness as possible, I was interested in the idea of seeking some sort of ideal for this holiday in particular.I understand a little better the cravings for tradition and nostalgia and some sort of Platonic Holiday Ideal for things like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but Halloween seems so full of variables and is so changeable depending on how old you are when you're celebrating that I never thought of it as a holiday that needed to measure up.
Nor did I ever think it would be good to recreate in my kids' experience my own Halloweens past. My mother was an ace costume maker-- not that she would pull out the sewing machine and craft timeless creations or anything. She was actually amazing with construction paper, glue, cardboard, pens and a closet full of items she didn't mind putting to use. I recall a particularly great Wonder Woman outfit she made for me that worked exceptionally well until it started raining. I, on the other hand, resort gladly to internet ordered things. I wish I could say that I knew what to do with a sewing machine or that I had natural talent and patience for these things, but I don't. My creativity this year was limited to having to perform increasingly intricate keyword searches to unearth a good, non-cheesy zookeeper costume.
My neighbors aside, the neighborHOOD turned out to be quite the place to be. How I could have lived here for years and years and not known this is somewhat beyond me, but all of the shops happily permit and encourage trick or treating, thus obviating any possible temptation to interact with one's immediate neighbors. There are fabulous decorations and crazy costumes and some very delicious and other rather unusual treats (my dog surely wishes he were out with the children when we passed the tiny store that was handing out fried chicken drumsticks instead of candy... and the next day the streets were paved with candycorn and chicken bones).
So, this was a success as far as I'm concerned, but I am interested in the idea that there is a non-urban ideal in Halloween. I've done both and as a child can't say I preferred one or the other, but perhaps there's something I'm missing.
Don't think I'm fretting this, however. As far as I'm concerned, my kids can have the city experience, chicken bones and all. I'm just curious as to what the countryside advantages might be.
posted by Elise at 4:11 PM
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