Neighborhood Memories and Halloween

 I have loved three neighborhoods in my life.  The first is from my childhood from when I was about the age seven until about age ten.  The second was our neighborhood in Sacramento where we lived for over twenty-two years and raised our children.  The third is our current neighborhood where we have now lived for over ten years. 

When I was seven, we moved to the house and neighborhood where I have my favorite childhood memories.  All the children on three streets were together all the time.  Holidays were special times and Halloween was the most special.  Houses were decorated and the trick-or treat night was extraordinary.  I remember one where a friend’s father shared the living daylights out of all of us with a story followed by him orchestrating all of the parents dressing in costumes and chasing us down the street.  By the time we were eleven, some of us thought we were too old to stay in our confined three blocks, so we crossed my street into the adjoining neighborhood that was foreign to us all.  I think we did get into some mischief that year, perhaps soaping the window of this boy across from me that no one liked. 

Susan and I bought a turn-of-the century house in Sacramento in early 1989.  It's easy to date when we moved in; Susan was pregnant with Rose and was put to bed rest shortly after we moved in.  Halloween was a special day in our house.  Kids from around the neighborhood would all pay a visit to our place.  I was a devil that would jump out of a coffin we had made.  Susan was a witch that greeted each child and walked them thru our front gate into the area of terror.   At the special sign – I would lift the coffin and light my devil face and sometimes jump totally from the coffin.  Most years we had friends that would visit that night and join in the scary fun.  I remember our friend Harry with his long beard being especially scary to the kids.  Susan would make sure the children were old enough to scare and if they were younger, announce such so I would not leap out of the coffin screaming.  We carried on this tradition long after Rose was beyond the trick-or treat age; in fact, each year until we moved to Mendocino. 

We have also so much enjoyed our Halloween here in Irish Beach but in another way.  Until COVID, we had a neighborhood Halloween party where everyone dressed in costume and made a grand entry.   Susan and our friend Lu oversaw decorating our neighbor Gary’s house.  Seems that everyone in Irish Beach came.  The wine and food were plentiful.  People donated money to a fund that was given to Coastal Seniors to buy holiday turkeys to all in the area that could not afford one.  The party stopped with COVID and has not resumed.   I'm having an empty feeling this year without it.  The neighborhood does have a trunk-or-treat event for children from the area and we love to decorate our trunk, dress in costumes, and give our treats to the children.  We’ll go out and set-up after this Zoom call ends. 

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