Hallow's Eve. Ready or Not.

It is a dark and stormy night. Really. I understand that Maui may not ring synonymous with 'dark and stormy' but on the north shore (a.k.a the windward side), the rains do come. And at 1600 ft., so does the below 70 degree weather. Quite frankly, the weather seems just right for the upcoming Halloween ritual.

I did not grow up with Halloween. Growing up in Europe in the 70s and 80s with a Swedish mother (no Halloweens in Sweden) and a father who did not live in the U.S. for 20 consecutive years, Halloween is not a particular childhood memory of mine. (Ask me about dressing up for Santa Lucia on December 13th with candles in my hair and carrying warm, saffron buns...now we're talking.)

Well, okay, I do recall my mother handmaking me a ladybug costume for an "American" party in some countryside; I wore tentacles made of black stockings on my head. When I was 9 and living in Rome, I dressed as a princesss - of course! - and trick-or-treated at a friend's apartment building...we went to two apartments, maybe. The Italians weren't willing to playing along; I think someone gave us an apple. Brussels was much more Amercanized by the time we got there, but I still only recall one trick-or-treat eve in the so-called American ghetto, which was far from a ghetto, full of beautiful, old houses on tree-lined streets.

I actually didn't get into the swing of things until college, at which point the local homeowners frowned suspiciously at us, four college-aged girls dressed as Crayolas, and wondered why we were usurping the young ones' night.

As an adult, I lived mostly in NYC where children trick-or-treat in apartment buildings. But, and this I love, apartment dwellers sign a list in the lobby letting it be known whether or not you want to be tricked, or treated. (Personally, I find it very civilized.) My sister and I did not sign up, but headed instead to a nearby haunt of our own for martinis. Treat!

But I've now moved to Makawao which is apparently Halloween central. A dear friend drove up to my house tonight and gently suggested that maybe I decorate the front door area...at least a little. And my next-door-neighbors are pint-sized and sure to expect treats when they come a' knockin'. I don't want to disappoint.

I do like to dress up. I do! I do! I have had a respectable collection of wigs over the last decade and even hosted a party or two in the day. But as holiday-oriented as I am, I fear I may have been a bit of a Hallow's Eve slacker when it comes to the children.

So I pledge to go find some pumpkins or lights to string up and a big, bag of bad candy, and maybe I'll dress up my little Petey dog up as a cat. Or a bumblebee. Why not?

Actually, the whole idea of it feels kind of cozy, like Charlie Brown and apple pie. I'm glad it's dark and stormy. It's perfect.