Trick or Treat Halloween

Today's Chat

By SAVANNAH CUNNICK

Oh Boy, I don't know about you ... but I certainly have many trick or treat Halloween memories to share. It's actually Hallows Eve originating in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. They wore masks when they left their homes at night so that ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.

On October 31st souls of the dead of all kinds roamed about ... ghosts, witches, goblins, black cats, fairies and demons. No candy was involved...more of an October Fest took place...we brought all that sweet stuff upon ourselves at a later date !!!

Uncle Festus begs Martha to buy LOTS of treats...and puts himself in charge of handing out the candy...only problem is....Festus keeps all the good stuff for himself and hands out what HE wants to when the kids come around. His diet that night is 99% Halloween candy...and he has been mistaken for the largest pumpkin in the neighborhood when all is well and done.. !!
Aunt Martha says that: You can tell it's Halloween "cause Walmart is bringing out the Christmas stuff !

Aunt Polly has been forever proud of her WITCH sounds until she noticed her CACKLE made people back away from her slowly. Uncle Pete told her that if truth were to come out....she just might BE a witch after all. On second thought,,,she does have quite a few black dresses and pointed black hats in her closet. Clarence says that she rides a broom...because the vacuum cleaner cord if too short.

My Trick or Treat nights will be forever memorable. As usual, I would decorate to the hilt EVERY Halloween .... monsters, ghosts, pumpkins, mums, orange lights, witches with black cats and shrieking sounds from the hidden boom box. Right now, we are the brightest fall and Halloween decor of the neighborhood.

Years ago, when the boys just started to trick or treat....I had purchased a creepy ghoul that popped out of a cage that screamed: I Will Get You and All Your Little Friends. It would go off every time you blinked the light on and off as soon as the trick or treaters would come up on the porch. Trust me, if you were not expecting it...you definitely would jump outa yer britches when it went off !! Well, my first two victims where 6 and 4 years old...two little brothers from down the street. When the doorbell rang...I blinked the light...the ghoul went off...and the kids screamed !!!

When I answered the door, I said: Did that guy scare you? The six year old said: Nope, it didn't scare me. The four year old...piped up and said: Welllll, it SURE SCARED ME !! (Guess who got the MOST candy....). By the way, I STILL have my pop-out goblin if you want to check it out...

Then there was this little CAGEY trick or treater who found out that I had those super BIG HERSHEY chocolate bars (that I bought from the High School Football team every year) that I was handing out for treats. He would go home, change his costume and return for I don't know HOW MANY times. He thought that he was fooling me...so after about his 6th visit...I merely said...Hey, Jason, Why don't I just give you a few more candy bars NOW before you run out of costumes. (Talk about the BIG EYE look!!!) Score Another One for Savannah !!

I always made costumes from scratch for my two sons during the elementary and middle school years. Guess what? They always won!! The great thing is that the boys always helped me make them. There was a SCARECROW with actual straw sewn into the outfit. Star Wars figures were always the winner back in the day...a really strange scary spider....and above all...a CLOWN complete with the curly rainbow wig...huge fat shoes...big pom pom buttons and large red blinking nose !! When I took him to school with the outfit on...the teacher could not stop laughing ALL day. Sound like a WINNING costume to me !! Hey, nothing beats two vampires ordering McDonald's on October 31st. Yep..you guessed it again...I was involved !!

Having been active in the TRUNK or TREAT for years....I have seen it all !!! Such cute costumes, nice parents, lots of treats...and I was dressed as a Good Fairy in a wheelchair...since that was the year I broke my knee...but, just HAD TO BE part of the festivities.( JD also proposed to me that night !)

The fun we had at the SHORT MOUNTAIN TRADING POST was always a blast. All the vendors dressed up...pretty good, I will say !! Lots of games, scary displays, delicious goodies and tons of fun !! The fire department hosted their own haunted house...so we were very busy in the Halloween time of year for many a moon.

Another interesting fact is that JD and I got married on Halloween. The Invitation stated : No Entrance unless you are wearing a COSTUME. Well, they certainly DID ATTEND and what a fantastic totally different wedding from any I have attended ! I was Medusa and JD was a very handsome Pirate. We got married under an Archway of Bats and our entry song was: Bad to the Bone. My bouquet of black roses was tossed and received. And, even our Pastor had a few beers after that one !! Most guests were our church member friends...all dressed in costumes....so, yes...even a congregation CAN HAVE a sense of humor !!

I went into Rite Aid the other day...and as I strolled through the Halloween Decor aisle....a dog skeleton started barking...the thing was about jumping off the shelf. The manager came running over and could not turn it off. She said...it has never done that before. I said: I guess it just wants to come home to be with the skeleton dog I have at home already!

I probably think the meanest thing that I have seen kids do on Halloween is somehow poke a hole in the bottom of the treat bag and quickly collect all the candy
falling out of it before the master of the bag finds out it is being emptied ! Nothing is worse than a RAINY night Halloween...when the bags tear open and there's NO Trick to gathering up the goodies. Plastic is always better than paper they always say.

A FULL MOON HALLOWEEN EVENING has got to be the BEST !! Add a few dog howls, cat spats, simultaneous Boo's and piercing screams makes it a TRICK OR TREAT night to remember !!

I hate to say it...but I never get over the Halloween Holidays. It's probably my FAVORITE Holiday. Fresh crisp autumn excitement. Leading into Thanksgiving and then Christmas. It is a prelude to a warmth of seasonal comfort and renewal of friendships. Cozy snowy evenings on their way and cuddling by the fireplace. It's magical !! It's happiness...unending hugs.

Carving pumpkins...I HAVE already seen the dueling Hillary and Donald on one neighbor's porch. Hayrides, cornfield mazes, haunted walks and October Fests are all coming your way. Have Fun and take a deep breath...these holidays are here for a reason. Take time to take out your family and have an out of sight holiday. If you have little ones who trick or treat...take them to ONLY neighbors and friends you KNOW and to the TRUNK or TRICKS sponsored by most of our LOCAL churches and organizations that we are familiar with. If you don't get any trick or treaters, take your candy and join in where they do.
One last thing...will the person who had the ghoul pop out of their Volkswagen trunk cease doing that....You did it to me the same day when the hawk carrying the
squirrel smashed into my windshield ...I was one cardiac mess. If you care to apologize, I am the white van with the fake amputated leg hanging off of my back bumper !!

Until next week...after watching ANOTHER worthless presidential debate...Trump's income taxes versus Clinton's emails...Like I have always said: What's the BIG DEAL about ghosts? We SEE THROUGH people ALL YEAR LONG !! And those two are definitely easy to SEE THROUGH !!

OK Folks, until our chat next week....please take care of yourself, family and friends...enjoy your Halloween activities...laugh, smile...dance a bit....maybe jump a little !

HUGS........
SAVANNAH