I just love Halloween!

I’ve been living in Canada for 20 years and I particularly love the days before Halloween, all the excitation, the decorations in the streets and in the gardens. Some are very scary (ghosts, skeletons…). In our neighborhood, quite a few houses have some very original decorations. We like to take a walk around to go and see them.

Every October 31st at dusk, under rainy or clear sky, knights, princesses, rabbits, dinosaurs, pirates, Transformers, Ninjas, Spiderman, ghosts, vampires, rabbits, cows, etc. are walking the streets (with their parents not far away), knocking at the doors where there is a lit carved pumpkin. “Trick or treat!” and goodies of every kind are offered…

I love it because it is one of the few evenings where there is entertainment in our street! We sit on our porch watching the families outdoors, happy kids to be with their parents in the dark. It’s also an opportunity to talk to our neighbors, to share memories of our childhood.
I like the costumes: even adults have their own. Usually I am dressed in orange, wearing some funny wig and hat looking like a funny pumpkin.


I like carving the pumpkin: with few cuts, it takes a funny look.
So it’s an evening special for children, which involves creativity and on a deeper note that speaks about death and darkness. Its origin is Celtic, in Ireland where the days are shorter and darkness longer. For me it’s a help to think about death, to laugh about it because I am scared of it and to prepare myself to die and to remember the departed that I loved.
I am aware that this tradition can be offending if you don’t have the codes.

Hospitality, creativity and family moment for two hours once a year: I don’t want to miss it!
Now Halloween is part of my life and is a way to prepare myself to the celebration of All Saints and the commemoration of the Dead in the following days. A way to tame death to celebrate Life all the more!

Happy Halloween!

Marie-Noelle

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