Monday Musings

To know me is to know I loath Halloween. My version of the ninth circle of hell is being shoved in a crowded New York City bar (ugh remember those days?), wearing an itchy, ill fitting, flammable, polyester costume while I count down the minutes until it's socially acceptable to exit. 

I never really even liked the holiday as a child. I much preferred challenging my inner Joan Rivers while giving out candy, and judging everyone else's costumes. I've never been a particularly spirited person, not one to root for a sports team or with abundance of school enthusiasm. It always just felt disingenuous coming  from me. It's not a character trait I'm particularly proud of, I've always envied people with fervor, it just never came naturally. So dressing up always felt particularly torturous and awkward. 

Having said all of that, I adore the essence of Halloween. I love it in its purest form. Never a fan of kitch, I  much prefer eery decorations and creepy literary and cinematic characters (a la Michael Moore or It). But the one element of the day I love above all else is a personal tradition. 

Sometimes it's the little gifts you give yourself; a deep clean of your apartment, a spontaneous purchase of new bedding, or Dominos Pizza. I don't know when it started, I supposed it was the meal of choice my parents ordered to fill the stomachs of hyper second graders eagerly awaiting their candy bounty. Even for this non Halloween lover, the memories of the holiday remain some of my favorite of my childhood. In my neighborhood, it was an event. The streets would be littered with sugar high children sprinting from house to house, carrying sacks full of plastic wrapped treats. Once our pillowcases (yes, we needed bed linens to contain the amount of confections we acquired) grew too heavy, we would retreat to my house to begin the high stakes portion of the evening, the sort and swap. 

Perhaps it's the fond memories associated with the evening that inspired my tradition, perhaps it's my desperate need for any excuse to imbibe in junk food but every October 31st I order a Dominos Pizza. In a city famous for their pies, I know it's an abomination, but I love it, what else can I say? So as we begin this final week of the month, I'll be dreaming of the treat awaiting me on Saturday night.