“
B~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O !
And
To All, A Most Happy Halloween !!! “
(
“From goulies and ghosties and long-leggedly beasties and things that go bump
in the night Good Lord, deliver us!”—from an ancient Scottish prayer, often
mistakenly attributed to the Scottish poet, Robert ‘Robbie’ Burnes. )
10/27/12
To
my very dearest friends, and always kind readers,
In less than a week from now, it will be
‘Halloween’! A time of chills and
thrills, sudden, ‘surprises’, cackling laughter, ever deepening shadows, misty,
full-moon nights, pumpkins, lit by candle from within, black cats, noisy,
‘spooks’, spider web (hopefully, without the spider!), candy corn, and the
joyous peals of children’s laughter as they, in every manner of costume,
trudge—holding half-full bags of, ‘treats’--from welcoming door to welcoming
door.
Can witches aboard broomsticks, flying fast and low,
be seen outlined against the moon? Can
you hear the rattle of chains, the squeal of rusted door hinges, or the,
‘whooshing’, fluttering of bats as they—too—fly through the air?
For children, it once was—and still should be—a time
of pretend, of being anything they may want to be; walking single-file
(accompanied by adult supervision, and in, ‘safe’, neighborhoods) down
sidewalks in a thousand neighborhoods, looking for the houses that invite with
porch light on, and welcoming open front door.
There to, ‘show-off’, their many wildly colored, and
wonderful dress, to adult homeowners who suddenly, ‘have to guess and guess
what each little, ‘treater’, represents.
There are always costumes of the, ‘Superheros’, in
current vogue…Batmen, and Batgirls, Supermen, and, Supergirls; and let us not
forget, ‘X-men’!
But more traditional outfits include a spate of
would-be Firemen, Princesses, Farmers, Faeries.
Witches, and Ghosts, plus costumes that reflect childhood,
‘want-to-be’s’.
It is the children who know exactly what Halloween
is about: the chance to play, and to pretend; to assume—for one, brief
night—whatever persona they choose.
And they LOVE it!
Fully as much—if not more—than the candy treats they hope to receive.
I ask you, my very dearest friends, when was the
LAST time you went out, ‘trick-or-treating’?
Not—mind you—as one of the supervising adults. But rather, part of that happy throng that
delighted in playing, ‘dress up’?
In October of 1963—when I was nine years old—was the
very last time my mother and father allowed me to go from door to door, in
costume, yelling, ‘Trick-or-treat!!!!’, jostling my way to an open front door
to be given my, ‘bribe’… goodies, against potential, ‘tricks’.
I chose my own costume, and was very proud of
it. I had on a plastic face mask that
was held in place by an elastic band over my ears and around the back of my
head.
The mask had two, little holes beneath the nostrils
to facilitate breathing, and into them I attached a long, black moustache.
I wore a long, black raincoat I had, with my
galoshes for shoes. I wore a plastic,
black derby, and carried a plastic pumpkin.
That Christmas—before—I had asked for (and had been
given) one of those children’s, ‘doctor sets’, that included a bright red
stethoscope, a, ‘doctor’s bag’, and a bottle of sugar, ‘pills’. And so, I wore the stethoscope around my
neck. Somehow, I also managed to carry a
grocery bag to collect candy in.
And I was set!
For that one night—anyway—I was not a nine year old, ‘Zahc’, but rather,
the nefarious, Dr. S. J. Smith. [I made up the name!].
My mom and dad thought I looked SO cute, that they
brought the camera out; and somewhere, lost amid the numerous and ancient
family albums is a photograph of me, leaning slightly (and, menacingly!) at the
camera, holding out my plastic pumpkin.
And oddly—somehow—the personage of Dr. S. J. Smith lingered on for a number of
years, as whenever my folks needed a form witnessed, I would scrawl upon it,
‘S. J. Smith, M. D.
And out I went, coming home again, and again so that
my dear father could upend the contents of each, nearly-full bag out upon the
dining table. And what a cache of treats
there were!
Little root beer barrels, little grape barrels,
toffee, gum, boxes of raisins, the odd candied apple, popcorn balls, home-made
cookies, jellybeans by the kilo; and candy corn, candy corn, and more candy
corn.
Since we lived at Ft. Hood, Texas, and in a duplex
on base, there were miles, and miles of sidewalks to cover, not to mention
repeat visits to houses that gave out the best stuff!, a veritable mountain of
candy quickly formed on our dining room table.
Of course—even in ‘those’ days, there were warnings
of apples containing razor blades, and of loose stuff being, ‘doctored’, with
poisons. And so—from that enormous
ziggurat of treats—my mother and father discarded anything loose; there went
the candied apples, the popcorn balls, the cookies, and the jellybeans! While I wanted to at least try a couple of
cookies!
Both then until now, I have never been particularly
fond of candy, per se., though—certainly—chocolate has NEVER been a stranger in
THIS house! And at Easter, those super,
super sweet Cadbury, ‘eggs’…WOW, a guaranteed ‘sugar rush’ in every bite!
However, this general dislike helped to make me more
popular than my, ‘geekishness’, would otherwise have conferred as I was the
ONLY kid on the block who still had Halloween candy in May!
Of course, the next year—when I was ten—I was
deemed, ‘too old’, to go a trick-or-treating, but—instead—took on the duty of
handing of the candy, while my folks mostly just watched TeeVee. Sigh.
And although that was almost—gasp!—fifty years ago,
some things—thank God—seemed to have remained changeless:
1)
The childhood ability to, ‘pretend’, to
imagine, to don personas as they would socks.
2)
The ability to dream, to laugh without self-consciousness. To have fun on an elemental basis.
3)
Most importantly—unlike adults—they have
retained the ability to, ‘play’.
Admittedly—though—ideally, children have time to do
these things, quite apart from duty and expectation, until such time as they—too—are
expected to don the mantle of responsibility, the, ‘rite’, of passage—as it
were—in order to become respectable, if predictable, ‘grown-ups’.
Though in the traditions of the Amish community,
there is recognized a set time from about age sixteen to marriage, as, “Rumspringa”,
or, ‘youth period’, during which the strict tenets of Amish belief are relaxed,
to allow an individual time to, ‘play’, or to, ‘blow off a little steam’,
before having to settle down, start a farm, marry, and have children!
Well before the time we become, ‘adults’, ‘play’, as
such, is literally beaten out of us with, ’grown-up’, responsibilities, duties,
and obligations taking the ascendant.
‘Play’ is thought of as wasting time, effort, money, and considered—moreover—to be
juvenile, and unproductive. It is even thought—derogatorily so—as being foolish
or downright, ‘silly’. And we learn our lessons only too well.
Oh, one might—on occasion—play tennis, golf, or go
bowling, etc., these pastimes are actually more like work, as they are ordered,
have specific rules, and—in general—involve a decided measure of
competitiveness!
‘Play’ knows no hours, no rules, nor any competition
to be thoroughly participated in and enjoyed.
I would think that we all would like to be happy,
secure, and fulfilled. But in striving
to become so, somehow, ‘play’ (for the most part), got left out in the rain and
sleet.
I kindly ask you to consider this: about the only
times we—as adults—‘play’, is on those rare occasions when we frisk-about with
our pets, or actually get down on the floor to play with one’s children or
grandchildren.
And when the grandchildren have left, or gone to
sleep, how often have you sat down to really read, “The Cat In The Hat”, by Dr.
Seuss? Or picked up a couple of crayons
and tried to color?
Admittedly—then—we NEED to, ‘play’; to, ‘cut loose’,
to relax, and have fun!
And yet, I would propose that we need to consider,
‘play’, as a measure of happiness, well-adjustment, and…sense of peace.
If I may illustrate on a very personal basis, after
my last, diary post, entitled, “A 2nd Rate Heaven?”, I asked for
comments; the ones that I received were—without exception—extremely
well-thought out, considerate, literate, and insightful!
I especially appreciate the comments made by dear
friends, ‘Tenar’, ‘AmyLouLou’, and, ‘scorpioj’, who suggested that—in truth—I
was, by illness and pain, too preoccupied with being miserable to
be…well...much of anything else. And
that, my dearest friends occasioned in me a lot of, ‘soul-searching’, and
necessary contemplation. How very, very
right they were!
That is—perhaps why—Halloween is my particular,
personal favorite among all recognized, American Holidays.
Although it is--among adults, especially—a quality
practically buried somewhere in the past, the notion of, ‘play’, can still be
found, if truly searched for.
While I am not particularly recommending that you
seat-yourself on the floor of a toy store, and begin playing with trucks, and
making, ‘truck sounds’ (though about ten years ago, I did just that—in a local
pharmacy--playing with toy dinosaurs while waiting for a prescription to be
filled! Of course I got stared at. But at that very moment, I found I was
laughing, and genuinely having fun!
And…I bought four or five toy dinosaurs to bring home!), you can
certainly start off small.
For example, the next time you have to go grocery
shopping, pretend that you are someone else. At the register, assume a
different voice, a different body posture.
You can be—really—anyone you want from rock star, to historic figure.
Do not leave a toy section in a store
unexplored. If the mood strikes you, buy
a couple of toys for yourself!
Try to look at Nature the way a child does, full of
colors, changes, magic, and wonderment.
We all could use a little childlike, ‘awe’, in our
lives. Please note that I did not say,
‘childish’.
And on this upcoming Halloween, as you’re standing
near the door to, ‘ooh and ah’, each costume while giving out candy, if you
simply cannot dress up in character for the evening, at least save some of the
best candy you like for you!!!!!!!!!
My very, very dearest friends, please know that I
think of you so very often, and want you to be well, secure, happy, and able to
freely enjoy life.
And
please, please always know that I love you dearly!
'Zahc'/Charles
