I think behind Christmas, Halloween
is one of my favorite holidays. Or was one
of my favorite holidays. I loved decorating the house and all the scary
costumes. I just think that the spooky orange lighting and all the skulls and
skeletons are really cool. I don’t want you to think I am this macabre Edgar
Alan Poe fan or anything. But I just absolutely loved that holiday.
I cannot decide if it is nostalgic
or pathetic on my part to miss something that – in the grand scheme of things –
is not terribly important. Taking kids to the school carnival or a Trunk or
Treat at the local church, shopping for that really cool costume… Does all of
that even mean anything anymore?
I remember being so excited as a kid
to get to dress up like Spider-Man or Darth Vader and go out at night trick or
treating. Of course, Adair is very different from where I grew up in Charlotte,
North Carolina where we got to trick or treat in real, honest to goodness
neighborhoods.
Living out in the country like we
did, we never got trick or treating kids ringing the doorbell. Decorations for
holidays were really more for us than for anyone else. And I have to admit it
was really cool to be coming home from work after the sun went down and seeing
everything all bright and lit up.
I would do our porch up with these
displays. It was nothing to take pictures of and send into magazines or
anything but I felt like I always did a neat job with what I had to work with.
And now, on today of all days, I look back in reflection and, dang it, I miss
it.
I suppose that we could have
decorated here in the store but there is that part of me that wonders, “What is
the point?” I guess really at the end of the day, those pessimists could argue
that there is no point in any of it… but who wants to live life like that? Hey,
if that is how you want to live, I guess you can live that way.
Wow, I started writing this essay and
I could feel myself getting depressed just writing it but then I felt like I
made a turn. I started thinking about how the world has changed so much and how
the survivors that make it out are going to have to work hard to get back to
all the little distractions that make life worth living.
I look forward to getting us back on
track. We just don’t know how long it will take…
