Getting acquainted with neighbors on a Halloween night
As an eight-year-old kid growing up in the Adirondacks, Halloween ranked as high as Christmas on my list of favorite holidays.
And though I was not a big fan of wearing a costume on a cold and sometimes snowy Halloween night, I wore whatever it took to get my share of free candy.
I could barely concentrate on my schoolwork in the days leading up to Halloween.
It didn’t much matter to me that Dick was watching Jane run. Dick had no life and nothing better to do, but I would soon be trick-or-treating.
On Halloween day, I agonized in anticipation of nightfall.But as much as I enjoyed collecting my share of Halloween treats, I found the experience of standing in front of a stranger’s door with an open pillowcase a little bit scary.
Because we lived two miles from our closest neighbors, my mother drove my sister and me around in the family station wagon.
We hopped out and headed up to the doors by ourselves in the cold and the dark. I trembled with every step.
It was the thought of hitting a candy goldmine that propelled me forward and forced my hand to knock or ring the doorbell.
I stood on the doorsteps trying to muster up enough courage to say trick-or-treat.
I turned my head from one side to the other, envisioning that some terrible person was lurking outside and ready to steal the candy I had already collected.
At each stop we were hit by a blast of light and heat emitting from the cozy interiors of each stop. The trick-or-treat experience made me aware of all the residents who lived in our small town.
When I got back in the car I asked my mother who the folks were and how long they lived there.
And she was great at obliging us with useful information about our free candy-givers.
Once we returned home we poured the candy into mixing bowls and marveled at our take.
To this day I don’t believe there is a more satisfying moment for a child than the sizing up of their Halloween booty.
Mitch Lee, Adirondack native & storyteller, lives at Inlet. ltmitch3rdny@aol.com
