This pumpkin was plucked from the field, its face designed by Ada, its features carved by Josh and then photographed by Brooke. Truly a family affair.
This morning, my daughter declared that this is the happiest day of her life. The combination of being allowed to wear “high” heels to school in costume, having her mom come join in the school Harvest Day parade, and being allowed to stop in all of her favorite neighborhood spots to ask for candy and get it…. It’s almost too much to bear.
Plus the weeks afterwards of slowly finishing the haul of sweet, not-so-good-for-you deliciousness. It really is the Best. Holiday. Ever.
As a parent, I can get all caught up in the worry about too much sugar being ingested, teeth surely decaying, stomachs rotting, kids getting confused and thinking that they deserve candy all the time, etc etc. I could even start looking at the other, far more creative, more labor intensive, more clearly-his-parents-love-him-more style costumes that parade around the streets of our neighborhood today and feeling the tentacles of jealousy reaching up, threatening to ruin my day.
But I’m not going there. Instead, I like to think about how fun it is to run into all sorts of friends on the street, how lovely it is to see all of our favorite shopkeepers out in costume, making the kids they know so well smile by giving them a treat, how much this holiday is really about a sense of community, as every neighborhood celebrates in it’s own way, having local parties and parades and just forcing people out of their normal day to day routines for just a moment. Even the most serious allow themselves a bit of silliness today.
Which is a beautiful thing.
ps: While you’re taking your make up off tonight, if you have time, listen to Orson Welles’ crazy 1938 War of The Worlds radio broadcast, which had the whole country up in arms thinking that we’d really been attacked by Martians. 75 years later, it still resonates.
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