Orange, black, red, white & blue

I have always loved Halloween. I’m not into goth or scary costumes and, as a mom, I don’t enjoy the overload of candy, but I love the creative spirit of a holiday where everyone hits the streets in costume. Over the years I’ve celebrated Halloween in many different ways, but the spirit is always the same.

Growing up, my mom would spend weeks making us elaborate costumes for Halloween. One year I was an oyster. She fashioned a giant shell out of chicken wire, covered it with grey fabric and then put a white swim cap on my head so that I’d be the pearl inside the oyster shell. My sister was a lobster that year, with huge claws towering over her, made in a similar fashion. Usually, however, the costumes went unseen as we marched around the neighborhood on the bitter cold Vermont October evening with our costumes hidden under parkas and hats. My parents like to tell the story of how my sister returned home one year with an empty bag of candy, having eaten each piece after it was handed to her.

In college, I remember one year where I decided that I had too much work to celebrate Halloween. At the last minute, however, I couldn’t resist and painted my face red, put on a red swim cap, red spandex and a shirt with a large spider on it and ended up heading out as Spider Man, more decked out than ever. I dressed up for Halloween in places where they don‘t even celebrate it, albeit unwittingly. Becky and I spent our Halloween in Ecuador at a bar, dressed in black and covered with black spiders (drawn with magic markers) only to find that no one else dressed up. If we didn’t stick out enough as a blonde and freckly red-head, we certainly did that evening.

In Frederick, our friends started a new tradition. Instead of candy, they hand out chili to friends and neighbors. People gather at their house, enjoying warm cider and a hot meal, and then walk together to collect candy on their street.

My first Halloween in California was spent in the Castro in San Francisco, where we partied with men in elaborate costumes who had all sorts of body parts showing. This year’s California Halloween was a bit more kid-friendly - an all American Halloween meets Hollywood. When we headed over to a neighbor’s at 5:30, kids were already pouring into the street. We filled the kids’ stomachs with healthy food (pizza) before heading out in a big group to tour the neighborhood. We stopped by a house with a “live” cemetery scene, where the corpses jumped out at the kids (most likely giving the local child psychiatrists a boost in business), one with beautifully carved pumpkins, and numerous homes with impressive home-made Halloween decorations. We decided to pass by the line outside of Jimmy Kimmel’s house, but did stop to watch as he handed out cabbages and filmed the kids’ reactions. Evie got her Hollywood moment when Bill Nye the Science Guy handed her candy. After about an hour of running up and down the sidewalks with their friends, all three of our little witches began to feel tired, so we headed home to hand out candy and put the girls to bed.

It’s easy to feel cynical about the holidays these days - the over commercialization and over consumption can leave even the most enthusiastic feeling disenchanted. But this year I realized what it is that I love most about Halloween: where Christmas and Thanksgiving are celebrated around the table with families eating or exchanging gifts, Halloween is celebrated in the streets with neighbors and friends. Families that normally spend their evenings glued to televisions or computers in their own homes, suddenly head out into the streets to greet each other and interact. It struck me this year that this is what America is and should all about, the “real” America if you will - people celebrating together and appreciating each other. Or maybe that’s just me, feeling patriotic on an evening when the hope of a new president and a new future for our country is just around the corner.