How many of you have your costume ready? What do you mean you're still wearing it from last year?
After a year and a half of wearing masks, I hope we haven't lost our enthusiasm for the traditions of the season. After the rare 5 full weekend October we've had, I'm feeling Halloween this year.
It's been a while. When it came to holidays as a kid, Halloween was the one for me. Costumes. Treats. Scary stuff. Most of my favorite things wrapped into one night of bliss.
You see, I was a year rounder. I took any opportunity to wear a costume. It's why I got into plays as a kid. I had a Superman, a Batman, and a Robin costume and never wore one of them for Halloween.
And scary? My favorite comic books were Creepshow and Tales of the Crypt. My favorite movies were old black and white horror movies like Frankenstein, War of the Worlds, and Godzilla. My favorite TV shows were the Addams Family and the Munsters which not coincidentally had two of the best theme songs ever.
I'm betting you're humming the Addams Family tune right now. Ba-da-da-dump. Snap snap.
So Halloween was more than just a night for me. For years, it was a lifestyle and I carried my love of spooky and costumey deep into adulthood where I realized there were few better gatherings than Halloween parties. Big kids love treats, too.
But over time I've lost a bit of the Halloween zest. A lot of things get in the way. There aren't so many costume parties anymore. And after a full whitewater season for me, often all I'm thinking of on Halloween is recovery.
The last time I truly celebrated Halloween was 11 years ago deep in the Grand Canyon. There is no way I couldn't have, It's hard to avoid the spirits there!
But honestly, that holds true in a canyon right here close to home. There are century old tales of a Towers witch. Phantom lights in the deep gorge. Haunts lurking in the tunnels along the railroad.
Just last spring a visiting boater claimed to have been chased out of the state line tunnel by a ghost. The poor guy was so scared he tried to bushwack up the mountain over the tunnel and got lost, ending up out overnight. He claims to this day the ghost chased him all night long.
Now that's a Halloween tale if I've ever heard one. This week of rest between the last weekend of whitewater and All Hallow's Eve has refocused my attention. There's a cd in the old player of my favorite spooky songs. I've been wondering what kind of costume making materials are laying around. I even revisited a few railroad tunnels this week to see if I could retrieve some of that old hair standing up on your arm feeling.
Halloween isn't like it was in my youth. Too many helicopter parents, too many overzealous city managers, too many designated safe zones. I don't care for Trunk or Treat and I despise moving the day for the convenience of bureaucrats.
All Hallows Eve is Sunday, October 31. Keep the hallow in Halloween!