by Barbara Claire Schaefer

Created on: October 29, 2008

BOO!

Halloween is in the air. Can you smell it? There's the smell of the first wood fires of the season after a long, hot summer, seeing your breath in the air, dried leaves crackling underfoot and the beginning of cold, crisp nights. It's like once again taking a walk down memory lane.

When I was young we lived in the country so celebrating Halloween was only something we heard about from the kids at school who lived in town. There was no way my mom was going to drive us around the rural roads after working all day, much less spend any time making Halloween costumes.

It would be a lot of driving in any case because most farms were comprised of 100 or more acres so houses were spaced far apart and other farmers didn't buy candy to give out either. We did get to carve pumpkins, though, because they were readily available from the garden.

Maybe that's one of the reasons I liked taking my kids trick or treating. There were times when I enjoyed it more than they did. Remember the flimsy plastic masks with razor sharp edges and a rubber band that smacked head, hands and face? That wasn't the worst of it though. Most kids were bundled up with heavy coats and boots over their costumes and this caused them to sweat profusely under the masks. When you lifted the masks the entire inside was dripping wet.

One year when my son was around five years old he was dressed up as a little tiger, complete with tiger face mask and carrying his favorite stuffed animal which was also a tiger. He was all excited until he actually started walking outside with the mask covering his face. Needless to say he hated not disliked but HATED that mask. He had to remove the mask every five or ten minutes to avoid suffocation. I think that was the last year I talked him into wearing any kind of mask.

Girls had it a little better because they could wear half masks or those that only covered the eyes. Remember them? Their favorite costumes were usually brides, fairies, or cute Disney characters. Unfortunately that trend doesn't include all of today's trick or treaters.

Some of the young girls I've seen on recent trick or treat nights look more like they are portraying hookers. It may be 40 degrees out but you see way too much cleavage and fish net stockings and heaven forbid they should wear a coat that would cover them up. I suppose, however, that they are just trying to look like their latest teen idols.

The real small kids are usually adorable. I still like the homemade costumes the best but some of

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