Halloween Die-ary #3
The big change we’re waiting for in a given Halloween Season is for all those green leaves to die in bursts of yellows, reds, and oranges. For nature to say, “I’m all in now, too.” But, of course, there’s a big change before that. The one where corporations say, “We’re all in now, too,” and start filling aisles with light-up skulls and talking jack-o-lanterns, gummy bats and monster cereals. For those abandoned stores in town to get possessed by seasonal Halloween shops.
Despite all the legit problems with consumerism, Halloween
shopping is a fun part of the season. Have a random Wednesday night without
plans? Jump over to Michael’s or Target or Home Goods or whatever your grocery
chain is, see what kind of zombies, freaks, and maniacs are on the shelves and
pegboards. It’s easy, doesn’t take a lot of time, and who knows? You might run
into something that becomes a part of your Halloweens for years to come.
This year’s jaunts to the store are tough with COVID haunting
us . Always in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, is this extremely minor
pleasure worth the risk of exposure? Even here in New Hampshire where the risk
is low? Really, though, it’s just a bummer masking up my whole family. Seeing
my kids with those things on makes me sad and takes a bit of joy out of the
activity.
Still, sometimes, even better than purposeful treks to the
store are randomly seeing Halloween products in everyday life. A packet of
Reese’s pumpkins at the gas station check-out. A cardboard Hershey’s display at
the grocery store when you’re only there for milk and eggs. Seeing the Spirit
Banner covering the corpse of your local Toys-R-Us as you drive by. It’s like a
quick flash of bright red foliage in a forest of uniform green on the side of
the highway
Or like one of those hidden picture puzzles, where if you scour your view of the cacophony of modern life, you start seeing triangle-eyed faces and bits of black and orange.
