reflections

[baronessekat]

I like halloween. I miss it.

For five years I lived in an apartment on the second floor of a house that the only entrance too was in the back of the house. This house was also in a really not nice part of the city. So I didn't get trick or treaters.

Before that I lived in a house in a really good section of the city and saw tons of them. I loved seeing little kids dressed up. Giving big kids a hard time for not being more original than throwing their JV football jersey on to go out begging for candy.

Now I live in an OK neighborhood full of townhouses and track homes. And tonight... two kids came to my door between the hours of 5:30 and 9pm. I used to love going to the mult unit homes when I was a kid and went trick or treating. twice the candy for half the effort. (that my friends is the economy of trick or treating).

And these two didn't look to really have costumes on.

What happened to halloween?

I didn't hear about any parties until after the fact. Work's Idea of costume contests was lame as all get out.

I only saw one halloween special on TV when there used to be lots of them.

IT's also the first year in seven that I didn't have my beloved halloweenn cat. It's hard to believe that next weekend will mark a year since I had to say goodbye to him.

I still remember getting him the week before halloween, when he was all of 8 weeks old. Him stalking my roommate's cat. coming down after an event to find him curled up sleeping happily on Hamish's stomach. How proud he was when he caught and killed his first mouse. How he talked... really talked to me and other people. And how he told me it was ok to say goodbye to those we love.

So as the year ends and another begins, I look back and say goodbye to things I loved and turn my face towards the future to see what new things I can learn to enjoy.

Blessed be.

Comments

[damedini.livejournal.com]

Aww.
Yeah, hallowe'en has really changed. I was out with my kid and there weren't many kids out. A lot of the houses had gone to trouble to do exciting decorating. One place even had a scary maze. But just not a lot of kids. I always thought that was because Toronto is full of immigrants from parts of the world that don't DO hallowe'en, but I'm starting to realize it's a general cultural shift, probably due to hearing about child abductions and murders all the time.
I know I'll be going around with my kid for a few more years, even though at his age (9), I was running around with my friends and would have DIED if my mom suggested supervising.
But the world's not as safe as it was, or (more likely) is the same except that we know about more of the scary crap.
It'll be a Good year for you. I hope.

[cirith-ungol.livejournal.com]

I just moved to a small town (OK about 6 months ago), and I was encouraged by how many trick-or-treaters we got. There was a family down the street with a fog machine. The one thing that was different from the fond memories of my childhood was that nobody rang doorbells. Everyone who was giving out candy sat out on their porch (or in my case, the driveway) and lit up the house.