Halloween Is Cool Again

It's that time of year again. There is a nip in the air, the sunlight is getting that lovely gold tinge, and the fall is creeping in. Aaahhh, breathe that air, with a hint of wood smoke, and get ready for...Halloween.

yay.

I confess, I am not a big fan of the modern day All Hallows' Eve celebration of beggary and gluttony. Even as a little kid, I always felt awkward and silly (just like now, except older!) on Halloween. I didn't really like costumes then, still don't, and I could never say 'Trick Or Treat' with conviction. I will always remember standing on a porch, mumbling 'trigortree' or something like it while adults with sloppy (perhaps alcohol fueled) grins on their faces bellowing "Well, aren't you a cute/fierce/lovely fairy/tiger/princess, here have a Pixie stick! (hic)".

(Clarification: I was never a fairy or a princess. Well, there was that one year where it started out to look like like elf, but i hadn't had a hair cut in a while, and with the green tights...Damn you, Mr. Jenkins, I was NOT a fairy!)

Anyway, I grew up, moved away from home, did the responsible adult thing and all that. It was with a sense of relief that I realized I did not have to participate in Halloween. Hell, I didn't even have to answer the door if I didn't want to, and some years I just went somewhere else for the evening. Finally, that nonsense was over!

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The Wee Lass came along and I was dragged back into it. There was no way out of it. She is just so dang cute, and all the neighbor kids were dressing up, and there was the vast potential for all those photos I could use for major embarrassments when she becomes a teenager. One year, she was a chicken, the next a baby cow, and last year a cat. This year she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty. My mind has slowly been changing about Halloween, because of stuff like this:

THIS VIDEO REMOVED BY AUTHOR

She was having a grand time, and by extension, so was I. Lesson learned: Don't let adult prejudices get in the way of joy.