Columnists
Smell my feet
Well, Thanksgiving is a wrap. Thanksgiving might be my second favourite holiday. What’s not to like about setting aside one day to be thankful for what we have? On top of being thankful for what I have, I’m thankful for the people in my life who have helped me along the way. I am so very thankful for all of the people who believed in me when I didn’t believe in me. So, hats off to you—you surely know who you are!
Now, let’s get on with October. When I was a kid, as soon as Thanksgiving was over it was the time to get my head wrapped around Hallowe’en. Hallowe’en was a great big deal back in my “younger days”. Most of the treats we got were homemade. Oh how I loved those popcorn balls, gingersnaps, brownies, pieces of fudge and Rice Krispies™ squares. Sometimes there would be a little paper bag of shelled peanuts and, of course, apples! One or two of the neighbours gave out store-bought goodies, but often they were Hallowe’en kisses (not my favourite) and little packets of Chiclets. Mom looked forward to the peanuts, the apples and the gum. She didn’t hesitate to relieve us of any and all of those items from our decorated, sixquart baskets. Hallowe’en was also when my older sister and I put our heads together to talk about our ideas for “shelling out” costumes. We pored over magazines and books looking for direction. Neither one of us were into being princesses or “movie stars”. We’d draw oodles of pictures of our ideas and then rifle through Mom’s stash of fabrics and plough through the dress-up trunk in the basement. Oh the costumes we concocted. Secretly, we saw ourselves as the designers. She was more into the design and I was all about the construction. Sometimes I’m sure only she and I actually knew what the heck we were supposed to be, but we had a great time being as outrageous as possible. Sometimes Hallowe’en night was cold and rainy and our costumes didn’t get the proper appreciation they deserved, but we knew they were great!
Fast forward from the 1950s to the 70s and 80s when LOML and I had children of our own. We wanted our kids to have the same fun we had making our own costumes. The process of planning, sketching and creating a costume became part of the family October weekends’ fun. On the big night our kids trooped around the neighbourhood dressed as a television, a “brown ghost” but actually an Ewok, Superman, Wednesday Addams, all manner of culturally appropriated characters (yeah, we weren’t always politically correct and one of our relatives lived in the Middle East), a Ballerina Firefighter, rock stars, a ghost-ghost, an angel, Santa, a dog, a cat and goodness knows what-all. Sometimes the costumes morphed into characters without a category. Sometimes the kids and their friends raided our collection of outdated clothing and they became hippies and maybe a little bit “dippy”. Did we set an age limit on their “shelling out”? Glad you asked. We did not. The only stipulation was, if they did decide (in their pre-teen and teenage years) to Trick ‘r’ Treat, they had to wear a costume and be respectful of the homes and people they met along their way. If it happened to be a school night, and they were out with their friends, they all had to be back in our house by 9:30 p.m.
In the last twenty years we’ve often had a discussion about whether or not LOML and I would give out treats to Trick ‘r’ Treaters who were considered “too old” or without costumes. It was never a very heated discussion. We always came to the same conclusion. If they came to our door, they got a treat. We expected most of the kids to say “Trick ‘r’ Treat” or “Shell Out”, but it was never a hard and fast rule. Mostly the ghouls and goblins who venture out with their friends or their families are kind, polite and were having a good time. And seriously, isn’t kind, polite and having a good time what it’s all about?
Trick ‘r’ Treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat.
Comments (0)