Happy Halloween everybody!
Except, I’m actually not that happy that All Hallows’ Eve has come round again this year. Seemingly unimpressed by my silent protest 12 months ago, the day has reoccurred once more and a day and evening of frightful fretting has commenced. No matter how much people try to convince me that there’s nothing wrong with a good old bit of dressing up, I just can’t seem to like Halloween.
This afternoon, fearful of the impending onslaught of trick or treating, plans were made to cope with what lay ahead. We would, quite simply, pretend we were out. Lights would be turned off, curtains would be drawn and doors would stay firmly shut.
Then, in a glorious twist of fate, the weather forecast foretold of downfall after downfall of wonderful, wonderful rain. I was, of course, mainly thinking of the farmers, glad that their crops would continue to grow (assuming such things still continue in late October) but as a by-product I could sit back and relax, listening to the pitter-patter not of little sweet-hungry feet but of droplet after droplet raining on their parade. Bliss.
I’m not sure what troubles me more – the idea that I might have to converse with people in costume (always awkward in all areas of life) or the fact that I would be forced to relinquish the treats I had carefully stored up to help me cope with all the pressures of this life. What do children know of pressures? They don’t need mini bags of Tangfastics. I do.
And then there’s the pumpkin. Apart from its obvious flaw of being orange, the pumpkin is part of the dubious ‘festival family’ (also featuring the Brussell Sprout), marked out as something that is only worth eating once a year. In fact, its chief selling-point seems not to be its taste but rather its capacity for being carved into something barely resembling a face. Give me a broccoli any day.
On reflection, I suppose my Halloween hasn’t been too bad. I have eaten more chocolate than the local children, endured only mild heart palpitations when the sound of excitable voices skipped past our door, and written a blog to encourage those like me out there who can’t wait for All Hallows Day to swing its beautiful figure into view.
On the downside, the end of the day brings the start of November. Don’t even get me started on that.
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