Taking a Pass

It's like when I was a teen, when I decided that I was done with dressing up and going door to door, trick-or-treating.

No one told me that I was too old. It was a conscious decision that my friends and I had made. The first time that we had decided not to go out on Hallowe'en (yes, I still insist on spelling it that antiquated way), we went to hang out at the shopping mall, which seemed ghostly quiet. We just sat on the benches, doing nothing.

It felt great to be out on a night where so many young people, our age and younger, were roaming the streets, and we were doing nothing.

My kids are still dressing up in costumes, but this year they've decided to abstain from going to the neighbours, asking for candy. They're just hanging out with friends, eating candy that they bought for themselves.

And doing nothing.

For myself, I find myself wanting to take a pass on Hallowe'en. I won't be putting on a dark robe, trying to scare the kids who come to our door. I'm not carving up a pumpkin, not answering our bell. This evening, I'm going to retreat to our basement, see what interests me on Netflix, and wait for the day to pass.

I'm not entirely done with Hallowe'en, but for this year, I'm taking a pass.