Here in the country, the night envelops us in a darkness that people who live in cities can’t imagine. From where I sit and write, there are only four lights visible out there in the night landscape that I can see. This is the perfect setting for Halloween ghosts and goblins because they like to hide in that darkness and wait for unsuspecting trick or treaters to come by. These cloudy, overcast evenings just add to the darkness they love.
Halloween, also known as All Hallows Eve, began as a Pagan holiday. It celebrates the night, when legend has it, the veil between the living and the dead is lifted. This allows the spirit world of ghosts, fairies, and goblins to return and walk freely among us that evening. Now that’s a scary thought. Makes you want to stay inside, turn out the lights, and pretend you aren’t home. Maybe then, those spirits of the living dead will bypass your home and go in search of one where they find welcoming lights and pumpkins with lit-up smiling faces, inviting them to come knock on our door, we have treats for you.
This year the Hunter’s Moon is already full as I write this. By Halloween it will provide very little light to guide the way for those who dare to venture out into the dark. What is Halloween without some menacing Halloween shadows for those ghosts and goblins to hide in? But times have changed. Now, for safety reasons, many places have trick or treat during daylight hours. That just isn’t the same. A big part of Halloween has always been the scariness that can only be experienced in the darkness of the night. Now granted, I don’t know much about trick or treating, because we only went one time when I was young. David reminded me of the time our neighbor, Morris Midtlien, took his daughter Sharon, David, and me in his pickup to two or three of the neighboring farms. David and I rode in the open back of the pickup and it was cold. I doubt if we got enough candy treats to get a sugar high. People didn’t stock up on candy for trick or treaters out in the country.
I think our Halloween was mostly the party we had at grade school. Hobo Day was a part of the celebration and everyone dressed up in old or funny combinations of clothes. No one had real, store-bought costumes. I remember two Halloween party activities involving apples. One was dunking for apples in a tub filled with water. That was interesting but not much fun. The other was standing in a circle and passing an apple, held under our chin, to the person next to us. I found that to be a lot more fun, especially as I got older, if I was next to a girl I liked! Of course it was a bit embarrassing too. I wonder what happened to that apple after passing under everyone’s chin? Maybe the teacher threw it in the tub and used it for dunking. I can’t imagine us wasting a good apple back in those days.
That was all pretty tame stuff, compared to a couple of other staples of Halloween–the tipping of outhouses and corn shocks. I have no idea what the attraction of those activities was, except it seemed to be tradition.
Back to this daylight trick or treating and Halloween celebration. Tipping over an outhouse during daylight hours just wouldn’t have been the same. What adventuresome Prairie Ghost would have ventured forth on a raid except under the cover of darkness? Although, maybe a couple of “ghosts” wouldn’t have slipped while in the process of tipping an outhouse and ended up in the exposed hole if they could have seen what they were doing. It can get pretty dark out in the country, and a bit stinky after such an experience. Outhouses and corn shocks are as scarce as hen’s teeth these days, except in Amish country, so there shouldn’t be a lot of temptation for people. Today it’s all about who can get the most candy. The day after Halloween should be an interesting one for the teachers, when all those sugar highs kick into gear.
Just in case some of you that live in cities should decide to venture into the country for some nighttime trick or treating, I must warn you, it’s not the same. Here in the country we don’t live in a “nightlight” world, where lights illuminate and chase the darkness from every nook and corner of our world. Those city lights even chase the stars from the skies. I call it light pollution. How can the ghosts and goblins that come back among the living on Halloween, find a place to hide? They need darkness and we have it here in the country. You may even find an old Prairie Ghost wandering around, still searching for the ghost of Gamle Magretta. If you aren’t familiar with her, you’ll have to ask me some time.
Now I must leave you. My sugar high has cranked into full gear after munching on all the left over Halloween candy because no trick or treaters showed up at our door. Maybe I should have left a light on!
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