Whoever said Halloween should be anything besides the best night of the year is sorely mistaken. At least the old me thought so.
I’m not talking about the good old days when I would dress up as a princess and trot down the street accepting candy from strangers – what kid wouldn’t call that her favorite holiday?
No, I’m referring to high school, when I would go to a friend’s house for a party, or even just sit in the driveway and pass out candy to the kids. I still had a bowl of candy at my disposal, from which I ate freely whenever there was a lag in the action, but I didn’t have to walk around the block in a flimsy pink dress to get it.
The candy really wasn’t the best part, though. Just like volunteering at ZooBoo, the best part of Halloween was judging the kids’ costumes.
I was never that kid who went all-out and won the costume contest every year; my brother and I got our costumes from Wal-Mart. Maybe Party City if the folks were feeling particularly generous that year.
While I never was one of them, I’ve seen some greats in my day. Among the Hannah Montanas and Spider-men, I came across ladybugs, dinosaurs, puppies and – the best – a banana. Tell me a 3-year-old dressed as a banana isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.
The homemade costumes are always the best.
But this year, I’m not feeling very enthusiastic about Halloween. I’m not going to be passing out candy to any kids, and although I do have a vat of gummy worms soaking in rum just like every other college student, I’m not nipping at the bid to get to the party.
In fact, I don’t even have a costume. I’ll be showing up in the most original costume yet – myself.
Dreadfully, I’m finding myself looking forward to the very thing I always hated most about Halloween – that moment on Nov. 1, when the world stops glowing orange and black in favor of red and green.
Yep, I’m ready for Christmas.
I’m ready for snow and hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies and pine trees; ornaments and reindeer and traditional carols.
I’ve had to stop myself more than once in that past week from choosing a Christmas album when searching for something to listen to on my iPod. It’s never been like this before.
In fact, just last year I wrote a column about how much I hated seeing Christmas novelties for sale in September. This year I’ve returned not only as a better columnist, but a hypocrite.
I’m ready to head over to the mall and buy some gifts. I want to listen to Christmas tunes on my iPod. I want to eat good food with my family and celebrate all the things we hate about each other every other day of the year.
I want to get a real break from this semester, and come back to school with new classes and, ideally, a new outlook on post-graduation life.
Maybe my hopes are a little too high, but Christmas miracles do occur, right?
