 Once again many
shoppers, young and old, are deciding which costume to wear on All
Hallows Eve on October 31. They stand in front of rows and rows of
costumes of fantasy and the supernatural. I watched a young couple as
they selected a witch costume with the long black robe, a huge pointy
black hat and a large bright orange pumpkin for her. He was still
indecisive whether he wanted to be a spook or a caveman. There was a
split moment that I wanted to choose a costume to wear this coming Halloween,
but I have already decided what to wear and there is no need of my
purchasing anything.
As I drove home, my mind wondered into the realms of the past when
as a child I, too, wanted to dress up for the occasion so awaited by
many children. Remember that it was the only time of the year that so
many other children, and I were allowed to wear makeup and be the
character from the stories read by my teachers or by me, or be the
character seen on the TV set, or on the wide screens. There were so
many to select from. Just imagine being Dorothy, the little girl who
walked the golden road to the Wizard of Oz, or Juliet, the sweet young
girl who fell in love with Romeo. What about being a queen, a king, a
princess or the gallant knight? Star Trek and Star Wars opened the
doors to many hungry for new ideas. Darth Vader was the favorite.
There were for the Baby Boomers, Zorro in his black mask, Cleopatra
wearing exotic makeup and jewelry, Tarzan wearing a brief loin cloth,
The Lone Ranger and of course, the Loony Tunes created characters
galore to select from. There were hundreds of choices that delighted
the hearts of many.
I anxiously waited for the month of October to arrive, planning my
costume to the last detail. My mother would listen as I gave her the
details so she could either buy it or make it. I remember, thanks to
the photo album, how I would laugh for joy as I tried on one of the
first costumes my Mom made for me. I was about 8 or 9 years. There I
stood with a blue bird costume. It was short and I wore the beak as my
hat. I felt as if I could fly. I even chirped pretending I was a bird
in flight. I wanted to impress whoever opened the door so I could get
lots of candies. Trick-or Treat! Those magic words would allow me to
play my part for one whole evening, from one house to another, so I
could fill my bag with all sorts of scrumptious goodies. What a life
for a young child! A costume, lots of make up and tons of candy! I
dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, as a Gypsy wearing lots of jewelry,
and a mask, a clown with huge polka dots and round red cheeks, and a
fairy with a magic wand.
 What really caught the imagination of many children was the
vagabond with a smudged face. I loved the idea of taking charcoal and
smudging my face with it, and wearing torn clothing and a rope to tie
my pants. I would have a wooden stick with a bundle of old things to
carry around. Add to that, a small jug pretending I had some illegal
moonshine. Oh! Yes! We became some strange personalities for one
night. My brother and I once dressed as cowboy and cowgirl with all
the fancy guns, one on each side. I once dressed as the
"girl" who sang and danced her way in "South
Pacific." My brother became Peter Pan and a ghost, favorites for
many kids. I truly enjoyed those days, as a child, when one could
pretend for one evening. Have I discarded the idea of dressing up now?
Of course not! There are so many new costumes taken from fantastic,
horror, romantic, or sci-fi films that arouse the keen interest of
many Trick-or Treaters this coming Halloween.
Several costumes I have worn in the last few years have been quite
interesting, if I must say so. Being adult you would think I would
choose exotic costumes that would allow me to be sexy or simply
different from my teacherly look. No way! I loved being a little girl,
carrying a doll and actually talking like one. What about putting on
freckles and pig tails with huge ribbons in pink? I once wore a white
dress at a party held by highly educated people and told everyone I
was a virgin! Actually I was Emily Dickinson. On another occasion I
made a pioneer woman dress and pretended that wild frontier men had
captured me and held me prison. I would shriek, "Help me! Help
me!" The best thing about getting dressed up, you can act silly…remember
it is for only one night of the year!
However, I have to say that there was one occasion that made me
regret it. I dressed up as a witch. Not just any old kind of witches,
but something like the witches from Shakespeare's play: MACBETH. UGLY!
REALLY UGLY! I dressed up to wait for the children who go from door to
door at my condominium. I put on the big pointy black hat, a black
dress, painted my face with snake, wore black lipstick, placed rubber
snakes around neck, pinned a huge spider on my dress and put some
spiders on the floor of the foyer. Add to that, a huge cockroach
seemed as if it was going to walk towards them. I even dimmed the
lights. Big mistake! As the soon as I opened the doors to greet
the children and give them lots of candies, two of the children
started to scream and run away. Wow! What a bad thing! Now I am
careful of what I wear. This year's costume? The matronly teacher of
the 19th Century. No harm there! I hope!
Enjoy this year's Halloween, wearing your fantasy with lots of fun.
Trick or Treat along with your friends, family and loved ones,
pretending to be whatever, whoever your heart desires. A tall glass of
ice cold Guava Juice is waiting for you as you enjoy all the embelecos
that we all love doing during the night of goblins, witches and
ghosts.
TRICK-OR-TREAT TO YOU ALL! Just have fun!
You can reach the author at lydia55@coqui.net
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