10-25-13 RMB Scary Fun
Dear Rita Mae Brown,
To celebrate the upcoming Halloween
evening, on this Friday night, I took the boys, my trio of nephews, to an
event called Trunk or Treat. Old cars that gather regularly along a major
thoroughfare of the city known as El Cajon, open their trunks on this evening
to supply candy to children and adults alike. A fair, complete with bumper cars
and rides that swing their riders around in carriages, has set up camp.
There are haunted campers to walk
through and vendors of culinary delights like cotton candy, hot dogs and hot chocolate
on this chili night. Oh yeah, there are chili dogs too.
Live bands play at every corner and
the music booms over strategically placed speakers. Visitors are encouraged to
come up to a “stage”, which is really a set of steps leading up to some city
government building, and dance or sing along with the entertainers.
The boys are in costumes, a mix of
various costumes really. One was mostly ninja, another more a pirate and the
eldest, a zombie.
I find it interesting that the four of
us are drawn to a band that sings the blues. An elderly black man crooning the
crowd captivates my white boys’ attention. We sit and listen. And we watch a little,
bold, girl child dance in the space twix entertainer and audience.
It is light enough to see immediate
surroundings, as dusk turns to night and street lights alight, but it is dark
enough to be fun and sometime eerie, in the midst of man-made fog, creeping
along the street and adults equally costumed, as zombies and rock stars pass
by. There was even a Grinch.
A work mate invited us. She and her
husband frequent the car show, displaying their own vehicle sometimes. She has
a reserve of candy set aside for “our” boys and is happy to see we made it to
the show-party. At a few year older than I, she is one of the biggest kids I
know, up in the ranks of my sister, my Rita. On this night, she reminds me to
be young again too.
We all crafted a good memory tonight,
the boys, myself, the little girl that danced, the man that moved us with song,
and my friends, all of us in our community. The walk a handful of blocks from
our car to the event, built excitement, and the walk back afterward solidified
our bond as adventurers into a night of scary fun.
In your books you describe several Halloween
festivities, community and families becoming one. On this night I experienced
it. On this night, for a little while, I was a kid too.
Boooo,
Loraine
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