Spookiness

Halloween 2005
Originally uploaded by dididumm

I remember the joy and excitement of being a child on Halloween. The feeling of breaking the rules by being out at night, walking around the neighborhood in the dark, seeing shadowy figures in scary costumes appear out of the dark, the jack-o-lanterns with their eerie glow. There was a feeling that anything could happen, and you were ready to embrace it. It was magic, spooky magic, and it filled my head with wild dreams and plans. And then, of course, there was the candy. We came home with bags filled with every kind of treat imaginable: peanut butter cups, chocolate bars, gumdrops, cookies, candy apples, jawbreakers, pretzels, marshmallows, peanuts, popcorn -- it was a cornucopia of treats that we were usually forbidden to eat. One year I hid my Halloween candy in my closet, hoping to prolong the feeling of the holiday, the pleasure of eating candy, but ants invaded the closet and we had to throw the candy away. I didn't know then that the feeling is not dependent on the externals -- you carry it around inside you, and you can access it whenever you want.