I was trying to remember the last time I ever went "Trick-or-Treating." I think it was sometime around seventh or eighth grade. I can't recall what costume I wore for that last spin around the neighborhoods. It was probably something cheap, homemade, definitely not one of those glossy, plastic, store-bought costumes. I do remember that I didn't go as far into the neighborhoods as I had in my younger days. The whole idea of wandering in the sharp evening air left me with many doubts about the efficacy of "Trick-or-Treating" as a means of achieving a sick candy buzz.
I suspect I stopped dressing up for Halloween because I was tired of pretending. It all probably had a lot to do with going through puberty . . . I was in a hurry to be somebody, but I wasn't sure who that somebody was just yet.
Anyway, kids will be swarming the streets this Monday. We live in the suburbs, flanked by homes with children. Meredith's filling our candy cache. I did a little decorating around the house, stuffing a garbage bag witch with newspaper. The witch is a cheap 99 cent decoration, but she has her charms. There are also rubber bats, plastic spider webs, and jack-o-lanterns set here and there. Meredith has also bought me a costume. . . It's a felt Devil's mask. I suppose I'll carry my Halloween demons with me when I answer the door to the tune of sappy Halloween sounds (a disc Meredith also bought). Mere, of course, has a Frankenstein felt mask. The dog shall remain unmasked, though we do have a pink wig he likes to wear. He's pretty certain he's a dog. He likes being a dog.
