TRICKS & TREATS

 
- Desiree Samuels, Contributing Writer

What a treat it is to experience Halloween with a four year old.  (Although he just woke me up, before 6:00 a.m., to make sure I knew he was 4-1/2 today.)  I used to love Halloween as a child, and now I get to experience the thrills all over again with my son, decades later.  In this ever-changing world, Halloween has also changed  since I was a child.  But this change is for the better.  It is more elaborate, festive and lasts longer than just one night of trick or treats (indeed, right after Labor Day and back-to-school, it seems like it’s a two-month-long Halloween extravaganza!).

Back then, costumes were simple and home-made. Nowadays, the selection of costumes is truly unbelievable.   Every character in the world is available via mail order, online catalogues and local Halloween stores.   We usually are invited to at least three Halloween events, besides the actual trick-or-treating on October 31.

 And once the actual trick-or-treating arrives, it is just amazing.  Our neighborhood looks like a sound stage on a movie set.  The detail that some people go through to create a fantastic, spooky, over-the-top Halloween experience is just amazing.  Some even have scary performances on their front lawns.   I just never  know who will have the most creative lawn, and we find ourselves trick-or-treating longer and walking further each year.

 Even carving a pumpkin is different today.  I usually carve three or more pumpkins.  We are no longer limited to the same ol’ crooked Jack o’lantern.  The designs are unbelievable, and so are the electric carving sets that allow you to create whatever you want in just a few minutes.  I really must say, with all the bad news going on in this complicated world of ours, Halloween is one of those rare treats that we can experience through a 4-year-old’s eyes, and things seem right with the world.