who says halloween has to be scary?

Halloween has come and gone. Last night I had the joy of hosting my third murder mystery dinner party, and we successfully managed to turn another nice, respectable individual into a slimy, lying criminal. He did a good job. I've already got an idea for writing a Christmas murder mystery which takes place at the North Pole. Was it an elf? Mrs. Claus? Morris, the disgruntled polar bear? Ha, I can't wait.

And this past Saturday, my church hosted an event for thousands of people called Octoberfest. We had tons of free food and music and games for kids, and there was a competition with automobiles called Trunk or Treat. Basically, you dressed up your vehicle in Halloweenish garb, and families would come walking past and interact with your display and ask for some candy. Then they would go vote for their favorite. It was fun. If your vehicle received the most votes, you won an iPod.

I managed to secure decorating rights on an old school bus from Gallaudet University, and we easily had the most unique display. Ours was interactive. Kids would line up outside the front door, and we would open the door and take them inside in groups of 3-5. The whole inside was totally blacked out, and we had covered the windows and crevices with black drapes so you couldn't see anything. Then we had fluorescent lanyards hanging off the ceiling in shades of green, purple, and blue, and we had streamers and Thanksgiving-colored garlands strung out across the bus from left to right. In each seat was a bowl or a treasure chest with some mysterious substance inside (crushed oreo cookies, gummi worms, eyeball ping pong balls, etc.), and there were random objects and stuffed animals scattered on the floor. We told them while still outside that their job was to "find the chicken," which in truth was actually Foghorn Leghorn, the rooster off of Looney Toons. While they were given 25 seconds to search, we sprayed them with silly string and threw candy at their clothes. When the time ran out, we kicked them out the back door and brought in another crew.

I was reminded at different moments this weekend why some people are rightfully cautious about engaging in certain Halloween activities, but I'm happy that there was a part of this holiday that I could still celebrate. There were innocent and fun opportunities to enjoy the company and silliness of other individuals, and despite the potential for some to delve into excesses and weirdness, there still was enough in this annual tradition to make me think it was worth it.

I don't like it when people mark a wholesale ban on something because one aspect of it could potentially be bad. I know people who dread the onset of the Christmas season each year because they think about all the individuals who give themselves to materialism and greed, and it kills their ability to enjoy what is good and right. That just strikes me as wrong. Yes, there are components of Christmas that I wish were different, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop celebrating it with a joyful heart and thank God for the thousands of things He has blessed me with.

So all that to say, you may not like Halloween and wish I wouldn't celebrate it. That's fine, but I hope in this season, whatever the season, you can find reason to be joyful and thankful and just as creative and silly as you would be any other time of the year. Life's too short to be a grump.