Sidewalks are the key to Halloween

October 8, 4:47 PMSouth St. Paul ExaminerRob Shirk

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                                      Hallowed End

We  meet our holidays head on in our neighborhood. There is no better case to be made than what we do with Halloween. This was a big, big, holiday back in the day. The knuckleheads stirred things up for a while by threatening kids with tainted candy and  All Saints' Eve had, seemingly, lost its magic. Many have willingly made it more difficult for themselves without the bonus of the knuckleheads.

As a nation we fled to the suburbs. The newer developments are, in many instances, contoured and instead of sidewalks (step on the crack, break your mother's back) we enjoy pathways that are so safe you can barely scrape your knee. But how so dreary are the multi-family communities with color coded homes and lack of exterior pizazz. For Halloween to work, sidewalks are required and the houses need to be built cheek to jowl. We have blocks and blocks of both.

It goes beyond liking Halloween. Kids around here just adore it. Be a pirate, Jason, an investment banker! Be a skeleton or any other scary thing you want to be. Or a super hero. Perhaps a princess and the list is endless. Maybe putting something on that's goofy is all you need. Once you're done it's time to grab that pillow case, and hit the sidewalks with a stout heart and a clear purpose.

With the immediacy of the sidewalks the rascals have to go by the house with the two caskets on the front yard and the cadaver slowly sitting up, staring, as they walk by. But you don't want to give them a break. A kid needs the intimacy of houses that are separate yet built close together. The place down the street that has vapor coming out the front door and the ominous clanking of chains rattling from inside must surely be a dungeon. After they quickly got their treat and as they flee, you don't want them to catch their breath out on some safe walkway. Better to go immediately to the next home just a few feet away where spiders land on your shoulders and head as the door is opened, get your loot, lose a little more breath, and repeat the process for as long as you want or as long as your parents will let you.

It has always been an unwritten understanding in our town to have a great time with All Hallows Eve. There are, surely, organized events for the young ones and that is all very well and good but the real fun is out on the sidewalks, tripping on the cracks, breathless in the autumn cold. It is a drama that uses our town for its stage and why kids rate this day right up there with Christmas.