(attempt two – the first of course was eaten by the gremlins who hate me and anything I attempt to place in drafts. I don’t think it is personal, it is just what they do).
I had no clue about the Berkeley rules for Halloween Trick or Treating. Neither did George when I asked him on our way home after my Wednesday afternoon detour through the Intro to Public Health Course at Cal (the one which I so foolishly volunteered to help teach next semester). We thought about checking the rules for, oh, about ten seconds, then decided to blow the whole thing off.
My thought, evil woman that I am, is to leave the house dark and not encourage any sticky fingered critter to hike up our driveway in search of sweets. Saves me buying sweets, decorating, dressing up or running the risk of anyone falling and getting hurt on the march up the hill.
Then I thought about Trick or Treating in the US as a child of the 1950s. We dressed up in whatever our moms could make for costumes at home, then we were escorted around the neighborhood. You knew everyone, and they knew you. The only similar parallel I can draw today is all of those books nostalgic of small towns (remember Prairie Home Companion? All the women are smart, the men good looking and the children above average?). I remember two things clearly: the first is that normally in Minnesota at the end of October after dark it was freaking cold; the second was that I wasn’t all that interested in candy by 1-2 days afterwards.
Back to the present – there were a few houses in my area that decorated for the holiday and several in Shana’s area as well. Perhaps next year I will make the effort to get out with my camera.
