[neverending]

Went outside and walked around in the darkness a bit. The air was cool and somebody was burning leaves somewhere. A very nostalgic feeling came over me. I remembered and longed for a time when Halloween was very different than it is now. It was a time of donning disguises and abandoning all forms of parental supervision. My friends and I would revel in our freedom as we roamed the neighborhood looking for people to scare and loot to score. It was still okay to give kids home made popcorn balls and cookies. And we loved them! There was a sense of leaving civilization behind and embracing the dark and wild.

A few years later, armed with my Dick Smith Do It Yourself Make Up Book, I would get myself up as a vampire or mummy and transform my back yard into a haunted attraction- all by myself. I'd construct a cardboard coffin and fill it with a a homemade dead body. Add a few skulls and tiki torches, and Disney's Thrilling Sounds of a Haunted House playing in the background, I would scare the wits out of the neighborhood kids. They got their reward for braving my chamber of horrors!

This year I'll be working on Halloween. I'm not complaining. I'm thankful to have a job. But, I'll miss celebrating my favorite holiday. The only day we honor our dark side, our wild, primitive nature.