Halloween in BD, 2005.

Halloween has come and gone and it seems as though I am becoming one of those who complain about the good old days. Bratch and I went to a cousin’s house to hang out and hand out candy. We set up shop outside. Our cousin had soft drinks and coffee. She had candy and candied apples. It was a really nice set up. We were camped outside listening to XM radio and making sure that people who drove by knew someone was open for business.

As we were waiting for trick or treaters, my cousin’s husband brought up the fact that he was so disappointed with the youth of today. He said he had driven through town and had not seen one busted pumpkin on the road. I can remember just a few years ago driving through town a few days before Halloween and pumpkins lined Main Street. He was so disgusted, he took his own pumpkin out into the road and smashed it just to get the old feeling of Halloween back.

We all began to reminisce about, “the good ol’ days.” You know the days I am speaking of, the Tales of Halloween Mischief days. My cousin and I found out we had both been checking out the same display sitting by the road away from the house. If we weren’t so much more mature now, yeah right, maybe we would have gone and done something about this lack of vandalism. Instead we stayed where we were and continued to lament.

As the kids started to arrive, we noticed what the kids were using to hold their candy. These were little plastic jack o lanterns. I’m sure you have seen these many times. Not very big, are they? Once again we started to think back on the good ol’ days and we remember having huge bags to transport our loot. I can remember plainly, trick or treating with Merlin and his mom and filling bags the size of paper grocery store bags up and in some cases starting a new bag. We had filled bags and broken the straps that you used to hold them. Those were the days. We would be in a sugar comatose for weeks.

We only had about six kids that arrived last night, including one that was so young they wouldn’t have any idea what was going on. Maybe the city folks get a lot of kids for Halloween, but I have spoken with quite a few this morning who said that besides family, they had not received very many trick or treaters. Are we all getting old and there aren’t as many kids now as there were back in my age group's heyday? Or is this just an isolated incident in the sticks? I am not sure, but it seems as though less kids are getting their fill of candy.

We lamented some more and then it was over. I went home and watched the Most Haunted Live show from Saturday night and then went to sleep. I woke up and besides it being a little darker than I remember, it was like any other ordinary day. I took my shower and gooped my hair and brushed my teeth. As I left my home, I saw a sight that restored my faith in the vandals of Halloween.

I drove past a friend’s house, JoJo, and it was covered in toilet paper. For those who know the place, their were 4 or 5 trees covered in tp. Power lines were covered. His porch looked as though it had been in a snow storm. There were messages painted on the door and windows of the house, it was beautiful. And for those of you who do not know, JoJo is engaged to be married. One of these messages said, “I bet you will be here next year. Ha Ha Ha.” So I am assuming this was an inside job. I am betting coworkers, but I wouldn’t put it past his family. I am sure he saw it, because I believe it was done before he came home from work at around 12:30 PM.

So, we know that at least someone is still into Halloween mischief. I even saw a couple of smashed pumpkins in town on the way to work. It kind of warmed my heart. Maybe next year will be the year to come out of retirement and show these young whippersnappers how to do it.