The Great Pumpkin

The best part of Halloween for me is watching the Charlie Brown special about the Great Pumpkin, that mystical gourd that visits only the most sincere pumpkin patch every year on Halloween night.

I confess that I have no idea where the tradition of Halloween came from. I know I could perform 10 minutes of internet research and find out, but I don't want to bother. I do know that for all of my life, and now that of my kids, there really is no such thing as "tricks or treats," because none of the kids know any tricks, and none of the candy-givers ask for one.

So, it's all about the treats and expensive one-time-use costumes. American commercialism at it's best. Just another holiday created by capitalism to separate us from our money. There are others of course -- Valentines Day comes to mind, May Day, even Easter (most people I know celebrate the bunnry rabbit version of Easter, not the resurrection of Jesus version).

I'm not wild and crazy about Halloween, but it hasn't been banned in our house. My daughter will go up and down the block tonight as Princess Leigh, and my son as Darth Vadar. May the force be with us.