Halloween night is one of my favorite of the year. Every trick-or-treat season, I prepare the house with the fiber optic scarecrow and pumpkins, a lighted witch's hat, paper ghosts in the trees, jack-o-lanterns, hay bails and blacks cats. Each year we have lived on this street with only seven well-spaced houses and gotten six or less costumed children at our door. Chad sighs and reminds me that more decor won't equal more monsters, yet I drag out the bins labeled "Halloween," buy the bigger candy and get my hopes up anyway. This year I added a fog machine.
We live on a block shaped like a boot that has some lots over an acre, so the circumference in quite large. It mostly faces a park to the South, and Highway 100 to the West, so it makes sense that little candysnatchers would view our nook as too much time for too little reward. I figured I wasn't the only one who was missing out on all the fun every year and I felt a bit guilty about it; I decided to make Halloween worth it for all those houses on the West, back-of-the-boot side of the block that we ourselves had skipped over every year.
We stop at G's house across the street first, who also creates a great display of whirling bats in a blown up ghost globe. He tried to fill Jude and Dane up with lots of candy, but I insisted on only a couple pieces each as "we were going around the whole block this year!" Sh, next door to us was given the same information, then we headed West. The first couple houses were dark, but we pressed on to B at the end. She said we were her first trick-or-treaters of the night, but it was early.
I made the right turn pulling the wagon and passed the first house up for sale and empty, glad we could skip over the super long driveway anyway. The next house would be our first stop on the back of the boot and I ramped the boys up to surprise some people who had surely given up on the dream of Halloween. The driveway was about 30-40 yards long as really are all of them are. J opened the door and introduced himself and his wife, and invited us in. He little dogs were running wild and my boys were chasing them in the foyer with glee. I noticed immediately that there was no candy bowl, so after a short conversation I attempted to exit, trying to be polite enough not to embarass anyone. Joel excused himself briefly and came back with a bowl full of candy. I was wrong, I thought, but as he dropped the treats in their pumpkins I took notice of the Christmas wrapping and knew immediately it was not from this year, probably not even last year.
The next lady also had no candy, but did again have little dogs the boys enjoyed meeting. The man at the next house opened the door with a bowl of gum and said, "you are the first trick-or-treaters we've had in over eight years!" We met his dog also, thanked him for the stale gum and I turned back toward our street a little deflated, giving up on the 'round the block idea. Although I know I'll never make that trip again, I feel a little torn about the decision now. Those poor people will probably actually buy candy next year and no one will come to collect it. :(
We stopped at C and S's, our neighbors to the East who had nice, normal candy and then Jude remembered we hadn't gone yet to M's across the street. He bolted her direction and when she heard us coming, she came out with bags full of toys won from claw machines. Jude and Dane each picked one, then got their treats-soda cans! Last year she gave out juice boxes that expired in February of 2004. The soda expired October 31, 2005 so I guess I didn't feel that bad later when Jude wanted to drink a little. I just had to pretend to spill it and get him a replacement out of our fridge.
After over an hour of trick-or-treating the boys had four edible pieces of candy. I gave the okay to go back to G's and get more-they earned it. I was informed by Chad, who was made to stay home, that we had had exactly zero visiters. I was confounded, I had seen some children on our street! How could they have skipped us! I demanded to know how loud the tv had been on-could he have missed someone? Jude went to porch and yelled out to kids across the park to "come to our house so my mom can give you candy and not be sad anymore!" It didn't help.
I guess I'm a lot like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear. I will scold anyone who tells me the children won't come, and I just can't travel to the neighborboods of our relatives to join in their Halloween adventures for fear that I will miss the year the hordes of goblins, princesses and power rangers are beating down my door.
Chad tried to comfort me, and for a while, I accepted it. But now, I have already begun brainstorming for next year! It's going to be the best Halloween ever, Charlie Brown. Just wait!!
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