Halloween in a very small town!

OK, there are many 'variations' and 'descriptions' of the last day of the month of October, being the 31st, and supposedly celebrated, as HALLOWEEN! Living in the Village of Folsom (Louisiana), we had very limited options for this "All hallows Eve".

The divide is definitely 'black and white', and I don't mean it's racial! Either you celebrate and enjoy the 'Trick or Treating', or you do not. No grey area at all. On one side of it, it's an 'evil' celebration of Satan's followers, dressing up to receive candy from strangers. On the other side of it, you do NOT dress 'evil' and simply go to the homes of people you know to feel safe. OR you choose to go to one of the local Churches, and consider it to be a "Fall Festival", but still give all the kids candy at some point of the night.

We'd started a tradition a few years back, at the Elementary School, to have a "TRUNK or TREAT". Parents filled out forms, so the school knew who would be handing out candy. On the night chosen, they parked around the circular drive of the school, decorated their vehicles, and the kids could go around and get candy from parents they knew. This was a wonderful idea, and it was beneficial to the PTA, from the sale of hot dogs, popcorn and soda. Well, for some reason, it just didn't take place this year.

So, the alternative is to drive from house to house (remember, this is a village~with two red lights) in order to see if their porch light is on, as the signal to let us know to stop there. Yes, the parents were in a line, stopping and parking (with flashers on), to let our children get some candy. You see, the houses that had lights on, were very spaced apart. In and out, in and out...but my girls were just happy to get candy.

Once we'd made our rounds, got some candy and stopped by Rebekah's classmate's house, we went on to Applebee's and had a nice meal together. There were numerous questions, that I assume all parents get asked at one time or another (if not simply because they hear so many adults' comments), and it was sad to me to be asked, 'Why can't we eat our candy now, Mom?'

And to explain to them the dangers of mean-spirited people, which only leads to more questions.

Is it the 'time of year' that Satan's "month of feasts" come to an end? Is it the EVE of "All Saints day" for a reason? Do ALL hallows, ghosts, goblins, witches, warlocks celebrate this night, some ritual? We can ponder these questions, we can assume things, and we can make choices based on our own interpretations. We still have free will, and as with most things "it's all in how you look at it"!