Small Town Trick or Treat

The kids unanimously agreed, "this was the best Halloween ever!".

Like the past two years, we started the evening by driving to Higginsville (8 miles away) for trick or treating at the businesses on Main Street, where Grandma's real estate office is. The event started a half hour earlier than last year so we were trick or treating in daylight. It was a slow, tiring shuffle up and down the street getting the same candy from each business (the business association provides each storefront the majority of the candy). Victoria (12) kept saying, too loudly, "this is BORING! I am SO bored!" I personally was SO glad to make it back to my mother-in-law's office so we could go home. The sun set as we drove back into Corder so as we approached our house, we could finally see the synthetic, lightbulb illuminated jack-o-lantern I had left in our front window to greet guests. Although we had been out an hour already, the night felt like it was just beginning.

I had only meant for us to trick or treat down our street and come home, because I didn't expect many people to be passing out treats. But since it was a beautiful night (clear sky, 65*F.) and we had joined up with some aquaintences in front of our house, our laughing and visiting took us to the end of the street in no time and turned us east to the other side of town. A lot of houses were dark, but those that were lit up rewarded us with happy greetings, exclaimations over the cute costumes and hand fulls of treats or generously pre-packed treat bags. I had heard that the number of trick or treaters dwindled every year so folks didn't worry about rationing their candy. Great for us!

The dimly lit streets and uneven, or absent sidewalks made walking at night a thrilling adventure. Rebecca stumbled over her princess gown twice, the second time hard enough that I had to carry her a little, but as soon as she saw the next glowing porch light, she recovered and wanted her pumpkin bucket so she could continue begging candy. We only visited a dozen houses, but it took a lot of walking in between and the kids' treat buckets filled quickly, and conseqently got heavy, so we were tired after just an hour. Seth even stopped going up to houses with his sisters because his legs hurt. Now that's a tired kid when he's lost enthusiasm for getting candy! Ha! We had met neighbors we only knew from sight (but would know better now) and experienced a Halloween like the old days when kids were invited into a house, without fear, to admire spooky decor and pick out treats. We only covered a small part of town, but as we headed home, the kids and I talked about next year skipping boring Higginsville and trick or treating on our home turf. Although the night's walk was invigorating, and surely helped burn off the candy bars I ate earlier in Higginsville, next year I will involve the car!