Halloween

Tomorrow is Halloween.

To celebrate or not?

We celebrate every year. Make a production of it. I usually carve multiple pumpkins, some with two faces. Takes a lot of patience to carve all these faces and make them unique and scary. It is fun and well worth the effort.

The second Halloween in our current house was a big production. I bought Christmas lights, white paper table cloths, borrowed a plastic snowman from Nancy and rented a Santa costume. I laid the white table cloths down covering the front garden making it look like snow. Strung the Christmas lights across the front garden. Borrowed Devin’s ghetto blaster to blast Christmas carols through the night. Janet came home to a house lit like house on fire. I am sure you could see it from space.

As the kids showed up, I would bound out of the house yelling Merry Christmas. Scared the hell out of them until Janet and Leslie stopped me from doing that. SO I sat on the front porch with my Santa bag welcoming the children. Poor kids. They kept telling me how much they loved me, how good they were. We almost felt bad for them. The confusion in their voices was palpable.

We have gone to David Powell’s house after our kids stopped coming. Arlin and I would take Jack out and smoke our cigars. Jack is very popular. Everyone knows him. He was a Halloween machine collecting two pillowcases full of candy. We would go back to David’s for dinner and to pilfer through Jack’s pillow cases. Someone had to save him from all that candy.

Our previous house was a more communal affair. We decorated the front yard and got ready for the Halloweeners. We had drinks with our neighbours while we handed out the treats. It was a big party. Ann and Frank, Valerie and Chad were our neighbours. One big family. It was a lot of fun, no matter how cold it was. We miss that.

We made sure Devin celebrated every year. He was dressed as a giant pumpkin one  year. He wanted to God another year. A sheep. Stingray. Bloody chef. You get the idea. Lots of costumes. I would take him door to door. It was lots of fun.

All this to say that Halloween has always played a big part in our lives. A bit like chehar shambe souri (ask your Persian friends) but a lot more fun.

Halloween this year will not be the same. I do not have the energy to carve all those pumpkins. I cannot be exposed to all those kids, just in case one of them has H1N1 and does not know it yet. I cannot open and close the front door all night either. A whole bunch of no’s that add up to no Halloween this year.

We have been discussing it all week. To do or not to do. It was a go as late as this morning.

Carys, my four year old niece has a temperature. Started last night. A temperature of 39. Leslie took over some Tylenols for her to help control things a bit. Her temperature has been going up and down all day since. She heard on the radio with of our Health Officers that a child with flu symptoms right now has H1N1. Carys has H1N1. She has not been here for a while, so no danger there.

It just emphasizes the dangers of exposes myself to a while bunch of children who may (or not) have H1N1.

No Halloween this year.

I cried.