Of course you don’t need to give those ghosts and goblins a treat … but …

Austin Turkey Trot. Photo: Tribeza

I am here to put in a word for traditions – silly, outdated maybe even annoying traditions. Rituals that survive generations don’t survive by chance. Most of them fill a need – an important, perhaps subconscious need. For example, Halloween gives communities a way to help kids explore the darkest of ideas – mortality, guts and bugs – with a light touch. Just like with Santa Claus, we conspire as a generation to support the next one.

So – putting a cardboard ghost in our windows or acting scared when little goblins or Pikachus visit our doors puts us in communion with our neighbors. At least for a day. It’s all good. For those few moments we are walking the paths of those who have come before us and who have left us a lesson or two.

So, enjoy! And here’s wishing you a spooky Halloween.