Yamada Hōgyoku: Bat and Moon (1830s)

"Let tradition bring us through those times when we feel most threatened."

I take refuge in traditional rituals when Decency wears thin. I had forgotten how important Halloween has always been until that first goblin rang the doorbell to threaten me with tricks if I didn’t deliver a treat. The current crop of kids passed muster, mysteriously dressed as current characters. I have to ask what each one ‘is,’ because I don’t get those memos anymore. I wore a vintage Felix the Cat costume in my time, though I doubt any of this year’s crop of costume wearers ever knew to remember who Felix was. One came bare-chested in the chill. One wore an inflatable T-Rex suit that probably snagged on the rose bushes that line our front walk. Many forgot to declare, “Trick or Treat,” and needed to be reminded to fulfill their part of the performance. I felt like I inhabited a Norman Rockwell painting or a vintage Walt Disney movie, experiences I had been in sore need of believing in again.

Kids these days don’t much go in for tricking, certainly not on the scale kids did in my grandfather’s youth.

Tags: #Decency, #PureSchmaltz