What's Lurking There...

Doesn't this just LOOK like a Halloween kind of day? This was taken at 8:30 this morning. Fog so thick you couldn't see the road in front of you. My friend's kids missed the bus because they couldn't see it in front of their house.

I love Halloween. Just love it.

I will have photos of kids in costume tomorrow. I have a big, hairy, black gorilla this year, and a full-fledged Hermione. I am not dressed up this Halloween myself - at least not during the day. I usually do, but just didn't feel like being a witch all day. Though some may say I am anyway.

Everyone asks me if my kids wore their costumes to school today, knowing how much time went into their creation. My kids aren't allowed to wear their costumes to school. School rule. I'll give you three guesses why...

Religious Holiday. Some parents in town apparently decided that they didn't celebrate Halloween, so no one should. At least not the kids in school. I know. It's the stupidest thing ever. I find it very sad. Very sad. I can remember when I was in elementary school - we not only wore our costumes to school for the day, but we had a whole-school Halloween parade every year too. All the parents would come and take pictures. All the little kids, walking in a single file line outside around the school. It was awesome. I loved it.

Religious Holiday. Please. It forces us to try to remember what Halloween really is about anyway. Does anyone even remember what Halloween celebrates? It was originally a Pagan celebration of the end of the harvest. Can't anyone celebrate the end of the harvest season? It was thought to be a day in which the world of the living and the world of the dead overlapped and so the spirits of the dead could cause mischief in our world. And later, the Christians married it up with All Saints' Day, which is officially November 1st, not October 31st.

I think most religions have their own way of celebrating the lives of those who are no longer here. I don't belittle that. I think that's very important. Everyone contributes to life on this planet in some way, and they should all be celebrated when they're gone for that contribution. And, I don't think anyone could say that they are not in some way affected by someone who has already gone. For instance, how often do we think of those that we were close to that have died and how often do those memories contribute to what we do in our own lives.

So, for those who don't celebrate Halloween religiously, let's come up with our own reason. I think Halloween should be officially recognized as a celebration of stories, myths, legends and the imagination. It's the one day that we can be anyone we want to be. We can stick out in a crowd and be comfortable there. We can hide ourselves inside our costumes and cease to exist for a day. Or, we can just sit back and watch as everyone else's imagination plays out in front of us.

A celebration of the imagination. Imagination is one thing that differentiates us as humans. No other being has one. And EVERY human has one. So, it can be a celebration of humanity. Global. Now you're talking...

My kids would love to wear their costumes to school. Even if they were the only ones in costume, they would do it. And I think that is reason enough to celebrate. If a kid has enough confidence to walk around in costume when no one else is, they should be able to. I break the school rule every year for this very reason. I tell my kids that if they want to wear their costumes to school they may. They just know that they may be asked to take them off (though I don't think they've ever been asked). Kids wear crosses, and necklaces with the Star of David, and other symbols of their beliefs. My kids wear costumes sometimes - declarations of their individuality, symbols of their imaginations, and therefore their humanity.

And doggone it, it's fun!