"Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter - John Williams
Whatever happened to the good ol' days when "trick or treating" meant running around with a bunch of awesome kids dressed in creative costumes? When a crowd would pile up on our front porch and keep coming to the point where it was pointless to lock our front door? When the streets were filled with enthusiasm just as the sun sets and one by one, bags upon bags would get heavier and heavier with candy without any worry that something unsafe secretly hides inside it?
Whatever happened to brilliantly lit jack o'lanterns that aligned the walkways without fear of catching on fire or spoiling too soon? To cheap, plastic masks that hurt our ears because the stretchy string didn't stretch out wide enough to wrap around our whole head? When you could grab a white bedsheet, poke two holes in it, pull it over your entire body and call yourself a "ghost?"
Whatever happened to the extravagant decorations and the simple arts and crafts you would take home from school to make your house the most spookiest one on the block? To those tricky, cotton cobwebs that just didn't spread thin enough to look like an actual web? To the friendly fright and silly screams you could hear across your neighborhood to let you know that Halloween is finally here?
I missed all of this... until tonight.
I couldn't get off work early enough to take my rambunctious niece to the mall - now the only safe place to go trick or treating. Although this breaks away from tradition, it has been a popular alternative source considering all the commotion of poisoned candy and kidnapping. I guess having security present gives a parent peace of mind, but this year we were an hour too late. We already exhausted all of our ideas over two pumpkin patches and so the only plan left was to get my niece in costume and play it by ear.
It took a bit of convincing and bribing to dress her in the "itchy-witchy" attire, but once she got into it complete with hot pink trim, matching broomstick and pointy hat, it was all over. She was ready to play the part! She threw the broom on the floor, stood over it, laid her hand just above it and commanded, "Up!" She was mimicking the scene from Harry Potter when Harry first learned how to fly on his broom. My niece was no ordinary witch. She was "Harriet Potter."
Seconds later, my niece jumped out, bursting with energy to our next door neighbor and approached his bowl full of candy with two, eager hands! He was so ecstatic that he offered her even more to take! She looked up at him, lifting her hat so he could see her twinkling eyes and said (without being told), "Thank you, Happy Halloween!" All of us nearly fell to the ground. She was a hit! A few other neighbors saw her coming and opened their homes to fill her pumpkin bag full of even more sweet treats by the bucket loads! She even made small talk with one of them wearing a dinosaur head and said, "Ewww, I don't like dinosaurs they scare me!" But of course she still thanked the gentle "Dinosaur" for the candy. After a few more stops, we ended up at our uncle's house a couple of blocks away and she proceeded to "broom-pool" - allowing her uncle to ride with her on her broom (as long as he provides more candy to fuel her excitement of course!). She was magnificent on her first official "trick or treat" and even if it lasted for a brief moment, my beautiful niece took me back to the good ol' days...
http://revjameshowell.blogspot.com/2011/07/mirror-of-erised-it-all-ends.html
Whatever happened to the good ol' days when "trick or treating" meant running around with a bunch of awesome kids dressed in creative costumes? When a crowd would pile up on our front porch and keep coming to the point where it was pointless to lock our front door? When the streets were filled with enthusiasm just as the sun sets and one by one, bags upon bags would get heavier and heavier with candy without any worry that something unsafe secretly hides inside it?
Whatever happened to brilliantly lit jack o'lanterns that aligned the walkways without fear of catching on fire or spoiling too soon? To cheap, plastic masks that hurt our ears because the stretchy string didn't stretch out wide enough to wrap around our whole head? When you could grab a white bedsheet, poke two holes in it, pull it over your entire body and call yourself a "ghost?"
Whatever happened to the extravagant decorations and the simple arts and crafts you would take home from school to make your house the most spookiest one on the block? To those tricky, cotton cobwebs that just didn't spread thin enough to look like an actual web? To the friendly fright and silly screams you could hear across your neighborhood to let you know that Halloween is finally here?
I missed all of this... until tonight.
I couldn't get off work early enough to take my rambunctious niece to the mall - now the only safe place to go trick or treating. Although this breaks away from tradition, it has been a popular alternative source considering all the commotion of poisoned candy and kidnapping. I guess having security present gives a parent peace of mind, but this year we were an hour too late. We already exhausted all of our ideas over two pumpkin patches and so the only plan left was to get my niece in costume and play it by ear.
It took a bit of convincing and bribing to dress her in the "itchy-witchy" attire, but once she got into it complete with hot pink trim, matching broomstick and pointy hat, it was all over. She was ready to play the part! She threw the broom on the floor, stood over it, laid her hand just above it and commanded, "Up!" She was mimicking the scene from Harry Potter when Harry first learned how to fly on his broom. My niece was no ordinary witch. She was "Harriet Potter."
Seconds later, my niece jumped out, bursting with energy to our next door neighbor and approached his bowl full of candy with two, eager hands! He was so ecstatic that he offered her even more to take! She looked up at him, lifting her hat so he could see her twinkling eyes and said (without being told), "Thank you, Happy Halloween!" All of us nearly fell to the ground. She was a hit! A few other neighbors saw her coming and opened their homes to fill her pumpkin bag full of even more sweet treats by the bucket loads! She even made small talk with one of them wearing a dinosaur head and said, "Ewww, I don't like dinosaurs they scare me!" But of course she still thanked the gentle "Dinosaur" for the candy. After a few more stops, we ended up at our uncle's house a couple of blocks away and she proceeded to "broom-pool" - allowing her uncle to ride with her on her broom (as long as he provides more candy to fuel her excitement of course!). She was magnificent on her first official "trick or treat" and even if it lasted for a brief moment, my beautiful niece took me back to the good ol' days...http://revjameshowell.blogspot.com/2011/07/mirror-of-erised-it-all-ends.html
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