Halloween Is Approaching Fast - Are You Almost Ready for Ghosts and Ghouls?

Halloween has changed a lot since I was a child. When I was very young, my father would walk me around our neighborhood, house to house, asking for candy and treats. Almost every house we visited had kids I played with - the neighborhood was full of young families and their assorted children. Just walking around two full blocks would fill my bag with enough treats to make any kid sick with sugar overload. 

It'll be too cold to be without coats this Halloween. That'll 
disappoint many kids who love to show off their 
costumes. But there are also many more "planned" events 
at grocery stores and other venues which will allow them 
to show off a bit. 

As I grew older, I branched out and we moved to a different neighborhood. Here, the kids (and my friends) were mostly older. It was more suburbia than city, and houses were more spread out. We walked the neighborhoods, of course, but also attended various parties or even a few church events. (I was only invited along, I certainly wasn't a member of any congregation.) We dressed up, but much more grown up than the princesses and fairies of my youth. Some of the parties were in very different parts of the City, so I wandered some strange neighborhoods too. 

When I grew too old for trick-or-treat door to door, I 
attended a lot of Halloween parties. Most of them were 
quite forgettable, but there were a few that were quite fun. 

Around the time I was fourteen, trick-or-treat from door to door generally didn't work well. Too many people said we were too old for trick-or-treat and refused to pass out any candy. That's when parties became more common, or we would join our friends who were escorting their younger siblings on their own collection route. We didn't bother dressing up for the holiday any more, just jeans and jackets (or puffy coats if the weather was really cold). Hot chocolate on the return home was always appreciated on those cold days. 

Although I never worked at a place where we held an 
actual party, I did work at a college where the staff all 
dressed up for the holiday. That was fun. The accountant 
firms I worked for afterward, however, simply didn't 
think Halloween costumes were appropriate attire. *sigh*

Now we pretty much ignore the day. I do dress up for the shop. Given that we're going to be quite cold, I think my Morticia Addams dress with warm leggings will win the day. Last year Halloween was 65 F Degrees. This year we'll be below freezing. So yes, Morticia Addams velvet dress with a shawl for extra warmth, and I'll wear my long red wig to keep my head nice and cozy warm too (although my scarab tattoo will also go well with the gown when I grow tired of the wig). Decision made - LOL. 

Who wouldn't want to be married to someone as 
romantic and spontaneous as Gomez Addams? 
I think Gomez spoiled me for any other man - LOL. 

Are you doing anything special for Halloween or Samhain? It's unfortunate that it falls in the middle of a work week, but nothing can be done about that. Do you give out candy? Do you attend parties? Do you embrace Halloween, or do you ignore it completely? Let me know in your comments, and have an excellent weekend. I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.