Hanging On to Halloween

Halloween is here. We’re facing our first major seasonal observance (I am of the generation taught not to refer to Halloween as a “holiday”) without Aly, who is away at college. We’re facing a good deal of uncertainty about what will happen this year on October 31st.

Living out in the woods makes Halloween, with its emphasis on door-to-door trick or treating, a bit awkward at the best of times. We have one neighbor girl who trick or treated here in the past, though usually not on Halloween night (she and her family are visiting outside. She trick or treated at the end of September this year). Aly obviously knew that she had to be in town to trick or treat, which she eagerly did through her senior year. Now we hear she’s got her costume all ready for the Halloween events at her college.

But where are we this year? What will we do?

I decorated the cabin, as I usually do, just after Alaska Day. We’ve been enjoying seasonal snacks. Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre (Op. 40) (paid link) is getting plenty of air time on the stereo (and Warren Zevon’s Werewolves Of London! (paid link)). I’m reading or listening to seasonally spooky stories, and offering a few of my own. We’re in the swing of the celebration, but it’s ringing a little hollow without Aly here to participate.

We’ve come up with a few ideas for spending the evening in town, but we may just spend it here, by the fire, as a frontier family might. The pumpkins we bought in town for food (49¢/lb for a favorite vegetable is a bargain!) are showing a bit of personality—maybe I’ll carve one of them on the way to the oven?

A quiet Halloween at home is probably our best choice, as the very next day, our small family will become fragmented even further.

 

This entry was posted in Seasons & Celebrations and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to Hanging On to Halloween

  1. Astrid says:

    That is a cliff hanger ending, hope you don’t let me wait for an update till after Halloween.

    Just wondering, you don’t grow your own pumpkins? that is my challenge every year, beside my big (ok HUGE) garden, I grow pumpkins to give away to local kids.
    Really enjoy your blog, keep it going/coming.

    I did post a link to my blog, just started at blogger after 4 years somewhere else, it is in another language..sorry 😉

  2. Mark Zeiger says:

    Hi Astrid,

    Yeah, I confess, a bit of a cliff hanger. I’ll try not to leave it too long, but the “denouement” is likely to come after Halloween.

    We do grow pumpkins! We started growing them in our greenhouse a few years ago, but have had good luck growing them outside, which pleases and amazes us considerably. They’re supposed to be hard to grow in our part of the world, but we did fairly well in Juneau, far better here in Haines.

    Love the photos on your blog–wish I understood the language!

    Mark

  3. Astrid says:

    Yes just read you new blog post..you do grow them..I live in Saskatchewan,about 1 hour north of Saskatoon, not as north as you,but here too we can grow them only if I start them early enough indoors.

  4. Mark Zeiger says:

    My wife tells me I was incorrect to assert that we grew pumpkins in Juneau. People did at the community garden we used, but we never tried growing our own until we moved to Haines.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *