Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Witches and Zombies and Ghosties - Oh My! Part I

(For the next several days, I will be writing a series of posts addressing my concerns with Halloween. Be sure and come back to read the rest!)


It's that time of year again.


You know the one - the time of year when it's not at all uncommon to see pseudo-graveyards popping up in peoples' yards; when  gigantic mutant spiders build their webs on porches; ghosts wind their spooky selves around trees; and witches fly on their brooms throughout your normally quiet neighborhood.
It's that time of year when it seems everyone is preoccupied with the dead, dying and downright scary.

Now I'm not a big fan of fall to begin with - I prefer the breezy spring days with their colorful flowers, and the lazy, hot summer days. Fall just depresses me, mostly.
And then you add in all the Halloween decorations people insist on plastering on every available space, and it's enough to drive a barely-sane person crazy!

(Not these. They're cute  - even they are ghosts!)

Why does it bother me so?

People often tell me I'm making too much out of it - it's just an innocent holiday, a time when kids (and now-days, adults, too) dress up and go around asking for candy. Nothing wrong with that, right?
(Actually, the idea of wandering around, knocking on complete strangers' door asking them to give me anything makes me a little queasy, but that's just my anti-social, hermit-ish personality type shining)
And no, I can't say that there's anything wrong with kids dressing up, or with getting candy (other than the obvious health hazards linked to eating too much sugar...like my children's mother completely losing her mind after they run their 57th lap around the house giggling maniacally in their sugar-induced stupor. But I digress.), however, I just can't reconcile having a little 'innocent fun' with all of the dark and dead stuff that seems to be celebrated on that day,


(To Be continued. Come back tomorrow for Part II!)

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