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Boo!!! Did I scare you? I hope not, because I've always been more of a fan of the cute and charming side of Halloween than the nightmare inducing horror filled one. That isn't to say I don't enjoy a bit of a startle under the right circumstances (say like a haunted house), but overall, I'm more apt to carve a smiling face on my jack-o-lantern than a grimacing, frightening one.
If, like me, you're a massive fan of all things Halloween, you're probably on the edge of your (rickety antique) seat for next Friday! At less than a week away now, there's so much to see and do and enjoy before the big day gets here. Much like as with Christmas, Halloween has never, and will never just be a one day event for me. Yes, technically, the big day is the 31st, but prior to that I genuinely love the anticipation, the planning, the sweet treats (candy apples! caramel corn! pumpkin pie!), and the excited thrill of anticipation that fills the ever chillier autumn air.
I wait for these last few beautiful, exciting days of fall each year in a way that I can honestly say, as much as I love certain other holidays and special events, any other. They make me feel like a child again, bursting with wide-eyed wonder, a shiver running up my spine with each creak in the floor boards, every ghost story told, and the each little sound that went bump in the night.
There is a magical merriment to this time of the year, regardless of if you observe Halloween on not. Fall is at its zenith, decked out in a regal gown as rich as any brocade ever woven, of jewel toned leaves and fields so golden they rival the sun. The nights are getting shorter, but the days haven't been reduced to mere hours quite yet. The world smells of damp earth and apple cider, straw and root vegetables. We can still feel warmth in the light, but there's that distinct nip of winter's impending arrival in the air as well and the two swirl about like miniature candy bar wrappers waltzing merrily in the air.
If I had the incredible power to control the seasons, this period would be at least a couple of months, instead of a few brief weeks, if we're lucky, long. And yet, just as quickly as I write that, I can't help but wonder, isn't part of the inherent appeal, charm, and deeply embed beauty of mid-autumn the fact that it is, like sighting a ghostly apparition, such a fleeting moment?
It might just be, you know, and that's the all the more reason to savour it, like you would your favourite Halloween treat, while it's here. Soon, all too soon, we'll be up to our eyeballs and earlobes in sweaters, down parkas, and Christmas decorations once again. Let's take a moment today, and every day for the next little while, to stop and smell the pumpkins, so to speak, while they're still here and give thanks for the all of the fun, fancifulness, and truly wonderful elements that make the Halloween season one that is so appealingly unlike any other.
