I used to be a Halloween agnostic. I didn't like the macabre decorations; for kids trick-or-treating was fine, but I didn't enjoy following them around. It's since grown on me. Now, I'm a fan. Here's why.The rest of America's major holidays are either indoor or away-from-home affairs. You celebrate Christmas with your family around a tree. Thanksgiving is around a table and the TV. New Years is similarly indoor. Most of the rest are chances to take a quick trip. Even if you only go across town or out to a park by a lake, chances are that Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Columbus Day find you away from home. Halloween is the only neighborhood holiday.
Whether its a weeknight or weekend, Halloween finds families with kids eating an early dinner (something healthy, please kids, before all that candy), donning ridiculous outfits, and wandering out the front door to see who has the full-size candy bars. As a parent, you end up walking the few streets around your house with whichever families walk at your same speed. The neighbors who aren't tagging along being their kids sit on their porch or answer their doors and hand the kids a piece of candy. The more creative make walking up to their front doors a small act of bravery.
Here's my favorite picture from last year's trek around the neighborhood:
I'm not sure Arthur really wanted to approach that table, but the KitKat bar was calling his name!
People kind enough to answer their doors and offer the ragamuffins a piece of candy are good neighbors, despite their election year yard signs. A holiday that sends us out into our neighborhood is praiseworthy because it reminds us that we're all in life together.
I've even come around on the decorations:
There's a spot in the graveyard for all of us, just as there has been for everyone who came before. Why not put a skeleton in the yard?
Trick or treat!
Reading
Halloween Treats for Democracy
Trick-or-treating is a civic ritual that builds trust and forms bonds between strangers.