Trick, Treat, Or Video Game

My wife and I are not ones that put stock in the Halloween holiday. It has actually proven to be more of an inconvenience than anything else most years. We are actually one of those houses that simply puts a bowl of candy out as the sun goes down with the hope that some kid doesn’t dump the whole thing in his bag or bucket. Of course, we mitigate some of this by putting half out at the beginning of the night and the other half a little later after having checked the rate of depletion. Generally speaking, this keeps things pretty quiet outside our door.

However, while we don’t care much for the holiday itself, we appreciate the opportunity that this night has afforded us over the years. I am not talking about the amount of money that we have to spend on candy (seems like a waste to me) or the scant leftovers remaining in the bowl after the noise subsides. The evening gives us an opportunity to clean out the house a little bit… in the past we have handed out Starting Lineup figures (they were actually cheaper than candy that year) and this year we were able to add something even better to the bountiful bowl.

A few seconds after I finished dumping the rest of the candy in the bowl tonight, the next group of kids walked up to the front door to inspect the offerings. It is safe to say that based on their wide eyed expressions and near shaking excitement, none of them expected to go home with a free Wii video game. I have to admit that we both chuckled a little bit when we could hear the next group of kids come up to the door after being summoned by the previous visitors and proclaiming “this is the best house ever… by far.” What they didn’t realize is that they were helping us out a little.

Unbeknownst to them, we spent some time earlier in the day putting together a trade in order on Amazon after we had come to the conclusion that we were probably not going to be using the various video game systems that have been collecting dusk in the basement and laying unplugged on our shelf in the family room. All those games that Amazon wouldn’t take (that were age appropriate) were what we put out in that tiny candy bowl. By the end of the night, all the games were either packed in boxes ready to be shipped or in the hands of neighborhood kids. However, the most important thing is that it cleared out about five boxes worth of stuff that was not being used. Everybody won tonight.

Avoiding Modern Art On The Asphalt

I remember the Salem days!

As the years have passes I have become less and less a fan of the morbid sugar filled celebration that fills this frigid evening. And, as I have said before, while I have a number of memories about this evening when growing up, I can’t recall ever anticipating this day with much fervor as many of the people around me. It was always more of an excuse to be out late at night and get a big bag of candy… given my size when growing up that carried much more weight than it should have. However, one thing I do remember is not being an idiot like many of the kids around me by running into the street despite the headlights.

Over the years, both in my maturation and my growing devotion to my faith (albeit in a variety of different ways), the minimal enthusiasm that I had for the day has dwindled to the point of complete indifference to the day. Honestly, the most that I have celebrated this day is in the words that I have written on this blog and looking up the history of the day on Wikipedia. For those of you who are also curious, here is a little bit of that listing:

Halloween or Hallowe'en, a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening", also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It initiates the triduum of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers. Within Allhallowtide, the traditional focus of All Hallows' Eve revolves around the theme of using "humor and ridicule to confront the power of death."

According to many scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain. Other scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.

Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related "guising"), attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted house attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories and watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular, although in other locations, these solemn customs are less pronounced in favor of a more commercialized and secularized celebration. Because many Western Christian denominations encourage, although most no longer require, abstinence from meat on All Hallows' Eve, the tradition of eating certain vegetarian foods for this vigil day developed, including the consumption of apples, colcannon, cider, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.

So, for those of you that enjoy this day (especially the night) have a blast. Just don’t dart out into the street without looking as I have already come too close to making modern art on the asphalt in recent years. As for me, I think I will wait for Purim to dress up and ask strangers for candy.

Exploring Other People’s Homes

With costumes filling the racks, bags of candy piled on the shelves, and dark shows and movies dominating the television stations it is impossible to look around and not realize that Halloween is quickly approaching. I remember when the treats and decorations would just now be getting put out for sale but these days we have been walking by them for weeks. The preparations and time from may have changed but some things have not.

I think back to those nights after school walking up and down the streets of developments thinking about what treats may be hiding behind the door. However, what I remember more are those moments when the doors opened and I could see the recently cleaned entry to the home. It was an interesting evening to peek into the homes of others and see where they lived. What was even better was when we were invited in to the foyer so that we were able to see just a little bit more of the house. It’s interesting to think about those times years later.

As I scroll through the pages on the real estate websites I get that same feeling of peering into the homes of others. Sometimes you see a beautiful home from the outside but one you open the doors, or click on the additional pictures, you can see that someone took great pains to polish a turd. Other times, the outside looks a little run down but the interior is spotless and looks nearly brand new. It is the same experience that I remember having when I was going house to house with my friends on Halloween night.

Things are a little different now both in the digital wall that now exists but also in my perspective. Things are no longer good and bad. Okay, maybe there are a few exceptions to that rule. Most of the time it is either discovering the aspects that we would want in a home or trying to see the potential in the property. It really is a balancing act between what you want to have in a home and what the realistic expectations that we have for our first home.

Of course, sometimes it is fun going through neighborhoods and peering into the homes we will most likely never be able to afford. That is the commonality that has transcended the decades… opening the door and stealing a glance at the homes of others. Some things don’t change.

Beware of Gumby

I want food not my picture taken!

Moseying around the resort on our final morning in Arizona it was a day like any other for everyone there (except the retired gaggle of ladies who arrived early in the morning for what I assume was a means to escape the bother of youngsters). The sun was out, the birds were hopping from tree to tree, and the horses didn’t seem to care what was going on they just wanted to see if I had any food for them. It was just a regular day when I would be heading back home.

Halloween has never really been a big deal to me. I remember growing up and going trick or treating but over the years it has become less and less of an event and, in some instances, more of a nuisance than anything. This year was the first time that I had ever traveled on this particular day and it was quite interesting to see the characters wandering about the airport in Phoenix.

Driving from Wickenburg to Phoenix there was really no sign of the day being different from any other day of the week or year. But when we pulled up to return the car you knew exactly what day it was and that this travel experience was going to be one that would be both interesting and slightly disturbing. Put it this way, the young guy that checked the car had a Batman sweatshirt on…. He would have been a spinning image if Batman fought crime by playing video games all day and never exercising.

As we walked up to the shuttle service to sit down and take care of a few last minute calls before the flight I noticed out of the corned of my eye a giant green mass frightening small children at the Enterprise check in counter… it was a giant Gumby which made me wonder what these kids are thinking as that character hasn’t been relevant for a good twenty years. Regardless, I couldn’t help the thought from passing through my mind, “I’m Gumby, damn it!”

As we headed to the terminal to complete our check in and make our way to our gate the only people who seemed to put any effort into what they were wearing were the TSA officers at the security check in. By the way, can we please standardize the security process at airports in this country? While the broad strokes remain the same the details are what hold up the line (i.e. belt/no belt, watch/no watch/ wallet/no wallet, etc.). I guess this is why it is recommended that you should get to the airport two hours days ahead of time.

Anyway, walking to the gate there were people heading off to all different locations with various accents and outfits indicative of the day. Some make you just wonder what they’re thinking while others make you wonder what they’re parents would think. Thankfully, when we got on the plane everyone around us was in their usual daily attire and by the time we landed we could see the rain and knew that the eclectic residue of the day had quickly washed away before our plane touched down. I guess Philly isn’t a Halloween hot spot.