One Halloween when Celia and I lived on Ash Street in Cottage Grove, we decided to make a basket of fruit and vegetables to hand out to the children that came to our door that night. It was fascinating to watch the expressions on their faces when we offered the contents of the basket to them. Many were stunned as they looked at what we had to offer. We could see the disbelief in their eyes as they tried to decide on what to take. Some of the younger children went back to their parents, who were standing back on the sidewalk to ask what they should do. Most of the older children took some of the apples or carrots to be polite, but we could see the disappointment in their faces. By the end of the night the basket still had much of its original content. We were sure we were the talk of the neighborhood--the house of all tricks and no treats.
A collection of stories from the life of Michael Burke. He worked for the Forest Service in Alaska, California, and Oregon. He lives in Oakland, OR. His wonderful wife, Celia, passed in May of 2021
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Happy Halloween! Love your stories, they are really a treat. :)
ReplyDeleteAs kids, we never would have gone back to a house w/vegetables & fruit. Like the box of See's candy, the fruit & nut candies were eaten last. And as kids, no one could ever hide candy from us! We always found it somewhere in the house.
ReplyDeleteYour sister Ann
Kudos for trying! When I was little, we carried little cardboard house banks and collected money for Unicef. On positive notes: in some grocery stores, I see baskets of fruit available for children to choose their favorite. We make it a point to take our grands shopping for fruit. We have a daughter who took her daughter trick-or-treating for stickers instead of candy. In addition, I hope the Teal Pumpkin Project will grow and become more popular, with non food treats; https://www.foodallergy.org/our-initiatives/awareness-campaigns/living-teal/teal-pumpkin-project. Happy Day of the Dead!
ReplyDeleteThen, there's the house that gives out pennies ... or just turns out their porch light while they party inside. Those are often the ones that end up getting TP'ed, egg'ed, or left with a burning brown bag of dog doo on their porch. Of course, I never did any "tricks" like that!
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