'Time to Get Your Pumpkin On'

It’s the time of year that I remember pulling down the creaky attic stairs and searching for the few, well-loved Halloween decorations-preserved year to year in that same spot in the attic. There was a cardboard black cat that we hung from the front door and every year we went pumpkin picking and darned our front porch with our jack-o-lanterns. There was a bowl of candy for trick-or-treaters-though our driveway was long and very few ventured there.

The movie theater held a special kid’s Halloween movie and a costume contest. One year my friend and I dressed as salt and pepper shakers. The hum and excitement of Halloween was felt all over town. The high school held a scavenger hunt and costume contest as well. One year I won top prize and dinner for two at Baron’s Cove Restaurant. As a senior I think it may have been the first time I ate out in a real restaurant.

There were corn stalks and hay bales and pumpkins galore. It may not have been a church holiday but it was certainly a community one-with traditions and customs that we looked forward to all year.

There were neighborhoods you couldn’t wait to trick or treat in-as younger kids my mom would drive us around and we’d run from the car and go house to house-door to door. She’d follow slowly behind in the car.

We’d come home after our bags were heavy and sort our candy into baking pans-cautioned never to eat too much at once – always so happy to collect some of our favorites-‘Butterfingers’, ‘Three Musketeer Bars’, ‘Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups’. A bit of a sugar frenzy -a rare and glorious day once a year of having too much of something.

We have always been a four-season village and town of celebration- of warmth and fun and joy shared. Knowing that the pumpkins and mums on our porches are a gift to everyone-a ‘let’s join the party’- and a notice of ‘I’m still here’.

I love anticipating who might come to the door on Halloween and seeing children growing up through their costumes year to year- families running up the hill to our house and the sudden surprising knock on the door-the pot of chili on the stove, corn bread in the oven, and a bowl of candy on stand-by.

It is a reminder that life is to be celebrated - joy is to be shared and seasons mark the days of our lives. I know it is not always easy as we age-but we do what we can-to keep the light burning within us-to find wonder in our days- to celebrate life in the places we love. I continue to feel that light burning within-the candy ready-chili fixings sure to find their way into my shopping cart this week.

A friend stopped me on a morning walk and asked - ‘what will your blog be about this week’?

I often wait until the last minute to write-when some early morning inspiration pops into my head - and after my walk about town I said-quite spontaneously -‘Sag Harbor Time to Get Your Pumpkin On’- let’s celebrate!