Pardon me, but when Covid was vanquished from the land, did crazy people also become sane and swear they wouldn’t put poison or sharp things in kids’ candy this Halloween?

I ask this, with tongue in cheek, simply because Halloween last night was an all out festival on my street. I’ve never seen so many trick-or-treaters.

I thought Halloween and trick-or-treaters were waning, but 8- to 12-year-olds were out alone. Absent were vigilant parents giving me the once over as I passed candy to unsuspecting little children. 

The first group of trick-or-treaters to appear was an entire white family of ten: mom; dad, taking pictures; teens; and small children. They were very nice and smiled a lot. All the children said “trick or treat”, wore costumes, and were cute as could be.

I remark on this because my community is predominantly black. There is one white family, but their kids, like mine, are grown and married. How did that family know I’d have way more candy than I needed?

Next, mothers came pushing strollers and asking for candy for their “month-olds” who sat in strollers asleep or seemed more interested in the fairies, monsters, and witches encircling them on my porch than they were in me.

Then there were women I assume were mothers who’d be attending a grownup costume party when trick-or-treating was over. One woman, a cross between Prince and Liberace, wore 4-inch heeled white boots and limped far behind her kids. I’m sorry, but I wasn’t wearing my photographer’s hat, nor was I in journaling mode. This prompts me to caution you, dear reader, to keep camera phone and notebook ready because life hands us these bizarre episodes and we must be ready.

Finally, I leave you with an image of the father who escorted his kids while riding on horseback as they trudged alongside him on the sidewalk. You don’t see that every Halloween! I was so excited, I stopped passing out candy to the people at my door, and ran into the house, screaming at my husband. “Quick, quick! Bring my camera phone! There’s a man out here on a horse!”

I apologize that I only got his back from a half block away. But the well behaved trick-or-treaters paid him no mind. They stood patiently waiting for me to settle down and get back to the business of the night! Yes, readers! I believe Halloween is B-A-C-K!