Hooray for Halloween! As a child I was obsessed with the depiction of Halloween in American movies and longed for such shenanigans - it might have been ET that laid it out in the most tantalising way - and now my wish has come true! The streets around our primary school go pretty wild for Halloween and it's got bigger and bigger each year, which I'm very happy about, and so are the kids. But the biggest surprise was, as you said, was the warm fuzzy community feel of interacting with our neighbours and experiencing people's generosity and obvious pleasure in making things so fun for kids. (a lot of the adults are clearly really enjoying themselves too!!)
I don’t really get excited about Halloween but I do often think about how it is the only time that I interact with some of the people in my suburban US neighborhood. I know some of my neighbors well but on Halloween I wonder why many of us aren’t out interacting any other day of the year.
Halloween is the only holiday where we celebrate generosity toward all others including strangers. Oddly, for that reason I started thinking it’s the most Christian holiday. That in itself is worth making a big deal about. Thank you for an excellent article that I felt warm and cozy reading.
Love reading your posts! We lived in Malibu West also. Our house was know. As “the Halloween house”. My husband Peter would go all out decorating…. Sometimes it took him weeks! We had dead people galore off our balcony. Dead people in his car, a guillotine on the roof with heads tumbling down. I LOVE Halloween. I loved dressing up, but must of all, handing out the candy to all those fabulous trick or treaters . I miss that. We now live in Danbury CT, to be closer to our daughter who lives in Brooklyn. (We have an almost 3 year old grandson, and we get to see them almost weekly. We initially moved because she was diagnosed with a very aggressive breast cancer. She is in remission (chemo, double mastectomy)… and fingers crossed this chapter of her life comes to a close.)
But my big regret is that we barely have any trick or treaters here! Maybe 6 if we are lucky. Gone are the days when you needed at least 5 huge bags of candy from Costco. Now we barely get through 2 small bags.
Yes! I love how weird, expressive, and deeply rooted in community Halloween is. It’s always been my favorite holiday. Why can’t we all be more like that throughout the year?
It’s catching on more and more in Norway, which is pretty remarkable given the cultural norms here, but you need to know which streets are ready for trick or treaters.
Halloween is the best holiday. You don't have the forced obligations of the big religious holidays and thus get to celebrate how you choose. That and the growing season is finally winding down and there is plenty of food, at least until February.
I love Halloween!! 🎃 The candy and trick or treating but also the spookiness, the bonfires, and the mischief. We throw a party in our stoop every year and give out candy for hours.
When we moved to our current neighborhood, there were just a few folks celebrating. It’s grown every year and now our block is a main stop.
Love the idea that this kicks off the dark half of the year. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I find Halloween feels like the start of holiday season in the US, and the Jan/Feb lull after the festivals of lights feels like the perfect time for reflection and slowing down. ❤️
Loved this one Rosie. My big American-in-London Halloween wreath was hung on the gate last week, complete with pumpkins and little spiders. Here's hoping our new neighborhood observes trick or treating as well!
Regarding the topic of the article, your Halloween memories sound super cool. I totally get wanting to keep that vibe alive, especially with the darker half of the year kicking in. Do you still go all out with decorations in the UK?
Apparently film writers are being told to write assuming that the audience is also on their phone. So clear ‘this us What is going on’ dialogue is very common.
NYT still the master of passive voice deniability writing:
“They may well have had some benefits to their self-understanding, but they would also have been exposed to more stigma, more negative peer or teacher interactions.” Ah yes stigma that just exists, out there, by itself, independent of the peers or teachers giving the negative interactions for some reason.
Hooray for Halloween! As a child I was obsessed with the depiction of Halloween in American movies and longed for such shenanigans - it might have been ET that laid it out in the most tantalising way - and now my wish has come true! The streets around our primary school go pretty wild for Halloween and it's got bigger and bigger each year, which I'm very happy about, and so are the kids. But the biggest surprise was, as you said, was the warm fuzzy community feel of interacting with our neighbours and experiencing people's generosity and obvious pleasure in making things so fun for kids. (a lot of the adults are clearly really enjoying themselves too!!)
I don’t really get excited about Halloween but I do often think about how it is the only time that I interact with some of the people in my suburban US neighborhood. I know some of my neighbors well but on Halloween I wonder why many of us aren’t out interacting any other day of the year.
Halloween is the only holiday where we celebrate generosity toward all others including strangers. Oddly, for that reason I started thinking it’s the most Christian holiday. That in itself is worth making a big deal about. Thank you for an excellent article that I felt warm and cozy reading.
Love reading your posts! We lived in Malibu West also. Our house was know. As “the Halloween house”. My husband Peter would go all out decorating…. Sometimes it took him weeks! We had dead people galore off our balcony. Dead people in his car, a guillotine on the roof with heads tumbling down. I LOVE Halloween. I loved dressing up, but must of all, handing out the candy to all those fabulous trick or treaters . I miss that. We now live in Danbury CT, to be closer to our daughter who lives in Brooklyn. (We have an almost 3 year old grandson, and we get to see them almost weekly. We initially moved because she was diagnosed with a very aggressive breast cancer. She is in remission (chemo, double mastectomy)… and fingers crossed this chapter of her life comes to a close.)
But my big regret is that we barely have any trick or treaters here! Maybe 6 if we are lucky. Gone are the days when you needed at least 5 huge bags of candy from Costco. Now we barely get through 2 small bags.
Pretty sure I remember your house!
Great job, Rosie. Great recommendations.
Yes! I love how weird, expressive, and deeply rooted in community Halloween is. It’s always been my favorite holiday. Why can’t we all be more like that throughout the year?
It’s catching on more and more in Norway, which is pretty remarkable given the cultural norms here, but you need to know which streets are ready for trick or treaters.
Halloween is the best holiday. You don't have the forced obligations of the big religious holidays and thus get to celebrate how you choose. That and the growing season is finally winding down and there is plenty of food, at least until February.
Loved this. It made me feel “lit from within.”
I love Halloween!! 🎃 The candy and trick or treating but also the spookiness, the bonfires, and the mischief. We throw a party in our stoop every year and give out candy for hours.
When we moved to our current neighborhood, there were just a few folks celebrating. It’s grown every year and now our block is a main stop.
Love the idea that this kicks off the dark half of the year. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I find Halloween feels like the start of holiday season in the US, and the Jan/Feb lull after the festivals of lights feels like the perfect time for reflection and slowing down. ❤️
Loved this one Rosie. My big American-in-London Halloween wreath was hung on the gate last week, complete with pumpkins and little spiders. Here's hoping our new neighborhood observes trick or treating as well!
Regarding the topic of the article, your Halloween memories sound super cool. I totally get wanting to keep that vibe alive, especially with the darker half of the year kicking in. Do you still go all out with decorations in the UK?
Apparently film writers are being told to write assuming that the audience is also on their phone. So clear ‘this us What is going on’ dialogue is very common.
NYT still the master of passive voice deniability writing:
“They may well have had some benefits to their self-understanding, but they would also have been exposed to more stigma, more negative peer or teacher interactions.” Ah yes stigma that just exists, out there, by itself, independent of the peers or teachers giving the negative interactions for some reason.