It was the Friday before Halloween and a parcel arrived for Anne. I offered to take it to her office. As I walked in, she looked up and when she saw the package, she smiled. “I hope that my striped stockings are in that box!”
“Striped stockings? What are you going to do with those?” I asked while Anne opened the box and showed me the red and white striped stockings.
“They are a new addition to my Halloween costume, Edna!”
Anne went on to tell me a story … “I love to see the little children dressed up at Halloween. Every year that I have been at home in Woodstock on October 31st, I have swathed my front porch in spider webs and greeted the trick or treaters dressed as a witch.
“That is every year except 2020 because I didn’t expect anyone to come to the door during the time of COVID.
“But they did and found me in my regular clothes. I remember several children looked disappointed and one little boy said to his mom accusingly, “You said there would be a witch! She’s not a witch!”
“About a week ago, a delegation of neighbourhood parents and children approached me in the driveway. “Will you be dressing up this year?” they asked. “You see we all noticed that you didn’t last year.”
One mom stepped forward, “We just moved here,” she said as she pointed up the street towards where she and her two little ones live. “One of the first things we heard was that there’s a witch who gives the children eyeballs at Halloween.”
“Well, I had no idea that the witch at 139 had become a neighbourhood icon! I said I sure would dress up if I could be certain the children would come to my door. They all nodded.
"That's when I realized I had created an obligation for myself.
“So, I shopped for a new spider web, the chocolate eyeballs I have distributed in previous years, and added these striped stockings and a spider earring just to freshen up my look!”
“I can hardly wait!”
We owls don’t really understand this Halloween tradition, but I am glad it makes Anne happy! What did you do this year?