S&UP

letters from home

a family original

Halloween is my favorite holiday with many fond memories of walking miles of country roads in the frosty night, sometimes holding the hand of a sweetheart as we steeled ourselves against the cold and spirit driven darkness dressed as waifs or pirates or shopping bag goblins. We met neighbors we’d never known, were invited into the homes of people rarely seen by us and were offered a glimpse into a world we didn’t know existed. Afterward, we took stock of our inventory, a bountiful harvest of delight that filled a grocery bag with sugary magic. That’s diversity!

The overwhelming consensus among red blooded American trick or treaters was that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were the holy grail of Halloween handouts. Those households were given special merit, and deserved a second visit or even third, as Halloween was celebrated for three nights consecutively, and we took advantage of the before, during and after celebrations. We did our best to conceal our identities so as not to raise suspicion; some would stop answering the door, some were already out of candy and some were still overstocked, happy to get rid of it so it all worked out.

Second on the favorites list were of course M&Ms, plain or peanut whatever your preference. TWIX were a close follower after they hit the market, and honorable mention goes to the PayDay, a meal disguised as a candy bar. Snickers were sort of rare but always welcomed. Ballast was provided by a long list of stand ins which included NECCO wafers, NIP O BOTTLEs, the occasional Mallow Bar and of course the Hershey Bar. Candy Korn would occupy a lower tier and risked the stern looks of entrepreneurial masked delinquents. Real fruit was taboo.

The glory days before the advent of miniaturized candy bars ended when news emerged of pins inserted into candy and razor blades hidden in apples. That’s the day Halloween died followed closely by SKITTLES, fruit of the devil and sour enough to put a scowl on any child of the era, harkening a dark period of cultural suppression. The harmless demons that ruled the night in search of clean fun and sweet treats were replaced by the real demons who took form to squelch and destroy happiness. Even the whimsical acts of children must thereafter be regulated and closely scrutinized by an evil entity bent on order unveiled as chaos.

Here’s the thing

Kids don’t give a damn about the ideological rants and ravings of a lunatic society; they just want to have fun. Perpetually attacking the very nature of mystery and imagination is in itself a sin, and not the intention of a loving God. A vengeful, vindictive god is not worthy of worship. Nature’s god is objective and will meet out justice on her own without the help of adherents who preach the existence of temporal demons to children whose minds do not inhabit such evils.

The real demons are a manifestation of us, come to life by our ceaseless anxieties, set forth to further deconstruct simple human desires. Now they walk among us, medicated and aimless, the demons residing in their heads.

Any reasonable person might think that masquerading as something other than ourselves would be a welcome relief from the everyday world, mischief is not always evil, and treats can be good.

There are plenty of objective hazards in the real world without fretting over beings from an underworld. There are three people buried on my farm over a hundred years ago, and two on site deaths in recent years along with raiding parties and hardships that go along with simple living historically. The ghosts are among the living; we are here and then we are not. That should be enough. If a spirit should take form and don a ghost costume, we would welcome them in and consider them good company.

For goodness’ sake, it’s just a harvest celebration folks! Let the kids have some fun.

Photo by Albert Stoynov on Unsplash