Just Folks. Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween! Have fun "Dressing Up" today.
Amidst the backdrop of real life ghoulish events, Hummingbird asked Tina Folks to create something that would capture the joy and excitement of Halloween-- and out spilled the contents of her “costume box.” Masks, hats, wigs, make-up, goggles!
When I saw Tina’s drawing, it conjured up a mix of memories associated with Halloween over the years. Being ten or eleven and dressing up with my best friend as “beatniks” with long blonde wigs and black berets, tight skirts and long sweaters; walking fast at night, while keeping watch for the older kids, marauding the neighborhood to play some tricks—especially on the younger of us going innocently and eagerly from house to house. Braving the “haunted” house a few blocks away, where in fact it turned out that an older woman lived alone, and not knowing that, Kathy and I were the only ones brave enough to walk through the gate that closed behind us as we entered, leaving us in the shadows of the overgrown front yard. Ringing the bell with hearts pounding, but the want and need to see what would happen strong enough that we stayed—only to be greeted by the bespectacled old woman sporting a big smile—and having in her hand a quarter for each of us, plus a real candy bar—a full size Baby Ruth—not the Halloween mini ones. Fast forward to costume parties on the North Fork—one in a greenhouse with one dinner table set for 100 people—we all came in costume, and brought something for the dinner. One costume was more over the top than the next! When we first moved here, we had at least 50-75 trick-or-treaters each year—we had to make sure we bought extra candy “just in case” we had a rush in the evening. Parents used to drop their children at the end of our street—easy and flat in the Village-- where they could see their children as they walked down the block on their own. Over the years, the number has waned. Children go to Halloween parties. Parents are afraid of the danger that can be hiding down the street, or lurking in a candy treat given out. But still, we buy the candy hoping upon hope that the children will be back, and we can greet them with “surprise” and “amazement” as we enjoy their costumes and guess who they are, and pass out handfuls of treats.
Happy Halloween Everyone from your friends at Hummingbird!! We hope you make a memory today….Trick or Treat!
Please click on the image below to enlarge.
Happy Halloween!
