Once upon a time, Rainy Day was a little girl. And she loved Halloween. Rainy Day loved Halloween as much, possibly more, than Christmas because she got candy. Lots of candy. And cookies. Lots of cookies. Why, when Rainy Day was 4, and it was summer, and she wanted some candy, and her Mommy said there was no candy, Rainy Day put on her Halloween mask, and went around to all the neighbors and rang their doorbells. When they answered, she said, "Trick or Treat." The neighbors laughed, and gave her candy. Rainy Day thought it might turn into a pretty good racket, but her Mommy was a stick in the mud, and thus ended perpetual Halloween for Rainy Day.
As Rainy Day grew, and collected a coterie of friends, they looked forward to Halloween. Not so much for the candy (though, with Rainy Day's sweet tooth, the candy was definitely an added bonus) but for the fun of dressing up and going around the neighborhood and being sillier than normal. One year, an old man came to the door, very grumpy, and said his wife had just died and he didn't have any candy. He slammed the door in their faces. Now, Rainy Day and her friends were old enough to understand he didn't have time to buy candy, or perhaps even think about it, but young enough that they truly didn't understand his grief. They left. They walked to the corner of the block, stopped, looked at each other, and laughing with great glee, ran back to the grumpy man's door. They set their bags of loot on the porch, rang his doorbell until they heard him coming, and ran, leaving their loot. Rainy Day has often wondered if he appreciated their gift. It was the only way they could think of to help him in his time of loss.
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| The first to ring Rainy Day's doorbell |
Eventually Rainy Day became a housewife. She spent days before Halloween baking and decorating cookies, and packaging them in bags to hand the scary creatures that dared to ring her doorbell. Rainy Day remembered the fun she had, and delighted in sharing that fun with the children of her neighborhood. Then, people started being mean, putting contaminated treats in the bags of small and innocent monsters, and homemade treats were no longer appreciated, everyone had to buy individually and factory wrapped treats. No more homemade treats. A lot of the joy of Halloween left Rainy Day.
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| The second to ring the bell |
Then, she discovered the little monsters invaded the local Mall, so Rainy Day and her friends grabbed their scary masks, and spent Halloween at the Mall, drinking lattes while watching the little monsters go from store to store to store. That made a lot of sense to Rainy Day – the malls were safe, they were well lit, the kidlets didn't have to dress in extra clothes, or take a chance on their costumes being destroyed by winds or rains. And Mom tagged along carrying all the coats.
And then Rainy Day had children, and the true joy of Halloween returned. Now, Rainy Day stays home on Halloween to keep her animals company, and answer the door to the few children whose parents take them to the neighbors and not to the malls. Every year there seems to be fewer and fewer trick or treaters, and more and more candy left over for Rainy Day to eat before it spoils. Perhaps Rainy Day should save it for summer? In case one of the local kids comes by for a "Trick or Treat."
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| Leftovers |
Have you noticed a decline in the number of kidlets at your door? Do you dress up to answer the door and pass out candy? How do you celebrate Halloween?
And for you who have yet to reach your sugar high, a recipe from Rainy Day's friend, Nonie:
NO CALORIE LEFT BEHIND BUTTERFINGER PIE
6 Butterfinger candy bars (regular size, or equivalent) (save a bit for the top)
12 oz container Cool Whip
1 graham cracker pie crust
Crush candy bars. Add to Cool Whip. Dump into crust. Freeze. Option: Add 1/2cup softened peanut butter to about 1 cup cool whip before mixing in candy. Spread on crust, drizzle with ice cream caramel sauce, THEN add the cool whip and candy mixture.
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