it's just a jump to the left...

yes, let's do the time warp today...halloween...one day crammed with so many memories...costumes...parties...and, oh yes, chocolate...but here i am...at a certain point of life...and in between it all...not dressing up or working on a costume for my daughter...in a community with no trick or treaters...and missing it all...well, maybe not cleaning the mailbox november 1st coated in shaving cream, toilet paper, and...ew, sometimes eggs...really missing the chance once a year to be someone else...to reinvent yourself for a fleeting and often hilarious moment...thinking back to my two favorite costumes....scarlett o'hara and morticia addams...yes, a hula hoop and curtains for the first...and even finding a long cigarette holder to complete the second...and also, wistfully remembering walking in the village parade 1981...before it was over-hyped and televised...i think of icy cold halloweens, my nose red at dusk...rainy ones with umbrellas and soaked sneakers trying not to slip on the drenched leaves...and glorious sunny ones, the sun blazing as it set over the last foliage...and i can still hear the sound of candy hitting the table as it was unceremoniously dumped for sorting...being young and wanting it all...being a parent and trying not to sneak it all later that night...but mostly i think of children...the youngest...not jaded...the wonderful costumes...and the pure joy and trepidation as they looked up at me, arms spread wide holding their goody bags...running with glee down my lawn into the darkness of werewolves and vampires and ghosts...and the sweet memory of youth...