Give me something good to eat!! Back in the day, Halloween was a huge deal at my elementary school. I won the costume contest one year, dressed as a cotton bale made by my Mama. There was always a spaghetti supper in the basement cafeteria attended by students and their families. The classrooms were converted into dark scary pits of evil for us to wander through holding hands while squealing in delightful horror. The highlight of the evening came when we banded together as pirates, ghosts and gypsies to comb the streets that surrounded the school looking for candy handouts. That was before the crazies decided to put razor blades in stuff and ruin it for everybody. Inevitably, some cool lady would dress up as a witch and sit in the dark of the front porch waiting to scare the bejesus out of us when we timidly walked forward to knock on the door. I had two grandmothers living on that street, so we usually made out like bandits in the treat department. Chocolate always was...and still remains, my favorite treat. Add a little caramel and my taste buds are in heaven. I've never quite figured out why those miniature candy bars taste so much better than the full size ones.

By the time Babygirl got to that age, Halloween had gone all politically correct and it was no longer a Halloween carnival but a "fall festival." Same concept with cheap plastic spider rings and such, just a different name. We carried gangs of kids around in cars from one subdivision to the next and watched warily from the street as they marched up to the homes of strangers to do the traditional Halloween thing.

Rolling yards with toilet paper was another popular seasonal activity, but never on trick-or-treat night because it was too easy to get caught with all those people out and about. The perfectly rolled yard would be a masterpiece created by a gang of pre-teens out on the prowl with contraband Charmin' and a statement to make to a particular teacher or sweetheart. It was considered a high honor in my book to get your yard rolled, but parents saw little humor in it and insisted that we go out and do the dirty work of pulling it down if...and it was a BIG if...it didn't rain and plaster it all over the place where it would stay stuck until it dried up and blew away in the winter wind. Smart folks bought yard rolling "insurance" from the local high school fraternity for easy clean-up.

Y'all have a Happy Halloweenie. And if you find your trees draped in toilet paper tomorrow morning, I swear I didn't do it.