“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' Burns.)
10/26/13
‘An American Halloween’
To my very dearest friends, and always
kind readers,
It is now late Fall, and there’s a decided crispness in
the cooler evening air.
The leaves of trees are changing color; the ones yet
unraked scatter, and blow into drifts across yards, and sidewalks, and crunch
when walked-upon.
The holidays that—like freight trains—follow one after
the other, heralding the end of the year are still far-enough away to be
worrisome.
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 spiders!),
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, ‘Superhero’s', 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 the ,’modern’,
American Halloween is all 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--it 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
even 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 towards (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! But, my dearest friends,
I digress.
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 [gasp!] a little more than fifty
years ago, some things--thank God--seem 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 known 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.
That is—perhaps, why--Halloween is my particular,
personal favorite among all recognized, American Holidays.
Although it is too frequent 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'.
As an adult, you can still carve pumpkin, make Halloween
decorations, or have little candles in the shape of funny ghosts or,
arched-back black cats, or of little pumpkins and gourds upon which have been
drawn, ‘spooky’, grins.
None of them need be frightening, or terrifying to elicit
(from those who see them), little, ‘bat squeaks’, of surprise and delight.
And on this upcoming Halloween, as you're standing near the
door to, ‘ooh and ah', over 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!!!!!!!!!
I wish for you no pain, or, if it MUST be, then certainly
lessened pain, more easily tolerated. I
wish for you (as the days become shorter until December 21st, or,
the Winter Solstice).
I wish that you not know want, or despairing, but—rather—have
plenty to spare and share!
I wish so much for you peaceful and untroubled
afternoons.
And, as Halloween approaches, I wish for you a measured
return to childlike joys, and happiness, surrounded by the ones who love you.
And nights of blissful and restorative sleep,
watched-over, and kept safe always, by gentle angels.
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
