Today is a day of spooks and thrills, donning the garb and physicality of many creatures one would not ordinarily want to meet. It is a thinning of the veil between worlds, a mark of respect to the dead and celebration of the fact we are not yet among their number. To the kids, it’s about the sweets and the street-walking, of meeting other kids who are doing the same. I don’t mind that Halloween has come, and looks set to stay in Australia. It was celebrated in – roundaboutly, in a way we’ve adopted and derived from – Celtic tradition long before it even hit America, after all. I’d like to think I can see past that to what it is, at least around where my eye lands: it’s a day when we neighbours are actually being neighbourly. If our door is knocked, I won’t grumble or complain. I would like to meet the children and teens in my community. I want to see their costumes, praise their creativity.
It is a day of sunshine, and warmth, in Melbourne after many long and dreary ones of recent past. It’s been a day of frustrations on my part, key bashing and many a sigh, and the kids have been chirping in my ear about wanting to go trick or treating now now now . Almost enough to want to make me lose my temper, but I don’t.
Because the sun is out, they are healthy and there really isn’t a damn thing wrong with wanting to dress up and have some fun.
