FOR THE FIRST TIME in decades, I haven’t purchased candy to give to trick-or-treaters. It’s not that I’m a meanie. Rather, we have so few kids come to our house that it simply is not worth even flicking on the outdoor light. The candy I buy each Halloween typically ends up consumed by us. And we don’t need it.
Plus, some 15 area businesses, organizations, churches and schools are holding Halloween-themed parties for kids, enough to fill any kid’s candy quota for the year.
If you’re protesting, “but, Audrey,” I offer one more reason. Cost. Candy is expensive, especially the mini chocolate candy bars I choose. (Hey, I don’t like gummies or suckers or Tootsie Rolls.) Randy and I are living on a retirement budget. And we all know how costs have risen on everything. It’s a scary time to retire.
I find the loss in investments, the price of groceries, the childish behavior in DC, the horror unfolding in our country and around the world much scarier than anything Halloween-related.
The scary of Halloween rates as fun fright. And maybe that’s what we all need right now—scary diversions not based in reality.
If a lounging skeleton, a swaying ghost, a face in a window, Gothic art or whatever can divert thoughts from truth, then good. For a moment or more, the mind has managed an escape.
So Halloween evening, I will escape into When Books Went to War—The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II. I’m only pages into this nonfiction book, but already the burning of books by the Nazis is scaring me. The book ties nicely with The Librarian of Burned Books, a novel I read a few weeks ago. If a trick-or-treater rings my doorbell, I won’t answer. My mind will be elsewhere, plus I will have nothing sweet to offer…except a handful of chocolate chips.
© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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