I have few memories of Halloween. For instance, I wouldn't be able to name anymore than a few of the costumes I wore over the trick or treat years. I think I was a dog two years in a row. With a big, full body furry costume and a mask, fairly hood like, that was hard to see out of. A big sheep dog or something of the like. I think I spent much of the night, wandering neighbourhood streets, calling for friends to wait up... as I adjusted my face, in hopes of seeing where, on earth, I was.
I'm pretty sure, late in my trick or treat career, I did the unoriginal punk get up. That consisted of moused hair, torn jeans, and a jean jacket. I was a small enough kid that I got the candy... but I think I had some paused looks from those that opened the doors... wondering if I was holding to the spirit of the night or just in it for a sugar rush.
I think I also went in my Spider-Man suit when I was young. The suit that mom made herself and that needed a coordinated effort just to get on... like deep sea divers or astronauts. The blue tights that made up the underneath of the costume... followed by the red material that snapped together under the crotch (in later years, the snap would come undone when I dropped into a squat). And topped off with the skin tight Spider-Man mask. Eyes barely able to look out... the smell of the material still embedded in my mind.
But I think when I trick or treated with the Spider-Man suit, it was too cold outside for the tights... and I was basically walking the streets in snow pants and a winter jacket... an arctic Spider-Man.
I remember the time when I was too sick to go out on the candy run. How my teacher, at the time, made a trip to the house to give me a care package of halloween treats... done up much more special than the handful of wrapped toffees and rockets that would be hucked into bags by those tired adults that manned the doors.
I remember it seemed the neighbourhood was swarming with children in those days. That twenty could all make their way to a door at the same time. To the point where kids would be perched on the steps, awaiting to ascend to the mountain's peak of sugar goodness. Little draculas and princesses having to cling to railing in order not to be toppled over by those coming back down from the summit. Yes, back in those days, trick or treating was as a summit attempt of Everest. Where teams would get backlogged along the narrow path to glory.
And it seemed as though we were out all night. It feels like we got out there just after supper and didn't return home until near midnight. Though I'm sure that's just the memory from a small boy's point of view. In reality, we must not have been out there more than a few hours.
I have no memory of how my gang of friends would come together at Halloween. We always went around together... though I do remember I sometimes would lose one group and continue on with another. Perhaps starting out with the kids I played with in the neighbourhood but losing touch with them among the summit throngs and running into some of my elementary school friends in the process. But how I would start out those nights is a memory I simply do not have. There would always be five or six of us together. And I can't imagine leaving my home alone and trick or treating by myself until latching on to the gang.
Most Halloweens, in St. John's, were a battle against the elements. Rare was it that a clear, still night supplied the backdrop for our adventures. No, our journey was much like an Everest expedition in this regard much as the stairs to the front doors were summit climbs.
Gales would whip hats and wigs off clown heads. Freezing rains would smear makeup down faces until, a mere half hour into the night, carefully made up vampires and zombies were dripping children... fragile and shaking with the cold. And some snowy evenings would force Frankenstein monsters and cackling witches to don wool hats and mitts.
This week in Ottawa was as those years back home. Rains blown against the houses. Dead leaves plastered to the street and a few of the brave ghouls hunched and leaning against the wind as they wandered up the street.
I stood in the darkness alone. Watching from an upstairs window. Remembering Halloweens of years gone by.
SATURDAY...
--- Rainy cold day. Quiet at work for the most part. Then some hockey on tv in the evening.
SUNDAY...
--- More days at work. And more quiet. Go to ball after work but don't play. Giving my calf an extra week since we have a full roster there anyway. We win 17-5. So I'm not missed.
MONDAY...
--- Nights. Fairly busy. I am at the shoes for much of the night. Not bad. I get a shwarma for supper. First one in quite a while.
TUESDAY...
--- Quiet second night. Plug away at some DNA work.
WEDNESDAY...
--- Up around 10:00. Groceries. Walk. Some tv. Some hockey pool stuff.
THURSDAY...
--- Halloween spent in the house. Rain and wind much of the day. I pity the kids... But since I didn't really prepare for them too much... And with bad weather and just me... I went lights out and in the basement. Something feels wrong about single guy alone at home handing out candy to children.
FRIDAY...
--- Windy day. One of the windier ones I've seen in Ottawa. Do a walk about the woods and ponds. See some small trees down and 6-9 inches of water up on the ponds and creeks. It really was a lot of rain yesterday.
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