I don’t know when these weeks before Halloween officially took on the “spooky season” moniker, but it seems like a widely accepted term in popular culture. It makes me feel a little out of the loop, but maybe because I neither have kids nor am I a twenty-something with elaborate costuming-for-a-party plans?
While my (non)celebration this Saturday will involve a small dinner with members of my Covid pod, I’ve certainly seen the enthusiasm with which many people have embraced this strange holiday. In my neighborhood in San Francisco, there seems to be an unspoken competition for elaborate outdoor decorations.
I have to admit, I admire these folks for their creativity, and their tenacious hold on some bit of normalcy (if hanging skeletons off of your balcony is normal!). But I enjoy seeing them on my regular strolls in the neighborhood.
The world isn’t normal. It isn’t going to be normal for a long time, and even then, the new normal will be a far cry from our old normal. But I think it’s very human to hold on to those things that give us a sense of continuity, of tradition, the decorations and celebrations that mark the progress of the year.
And if nothing else, they provide a much-needed diversion in this spookiest of spooky seasons…
Coronavirus Diary: Mental Health in a strange new world 
I am so old that I remember when Halloween was just for kids. Their trick-or-treat tours of neighborhoods was just about all there was to the event. Adults paid a lot of attention to their kids that night, and they were the main thing. Now the adults have taken over Halloween and it’s not for kids any more, except – it seems to me – as an ancillary activity. It’s also been taken over by corporate commercial hucksterism and something to buy and hang somewhere. So, up to COVID times, it had become about the adult partying. Post-COVID it will revert to that. I wish it was all about kids again.
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Hello our dear & Talended La Maestra!
Another great posts. Nice pictures. Merci! You inspire more people than you might think, Sarah. I agree when you mention it is good to keep some normalcy during those troubled time. Life as we’ve known it will never be the same. I prefer not to mention what I’ve learned and read for the near future as a rn with my special covid-19 group I’m in.
I always loved Halloween. I’m not versed too much into horror movies but I always like Tim Burton movies (Sleepy Hollow, Beetlejuice, Edward the scissors’ hands,…). We (my wife & my son & our pug-Ô & me) were passing the Halloween in my little 4-doors Toyota Yaris Hatchback that I called Choupette (it’s my Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). We were stopping at houses for our son. We were travelling in Verdun which includes nuns’ island, LaSalle and Westmount. Westmount is partially on top of the mount royal. We were going to mount summit. It’s a rich district with expensive houses. They were putting such Halloween’s decoration that you were feeling on a cinéma set. You could even do your jogging there, Maestra. You’ld like it. There is a little park called park summit.
Be safe & Healthy everyone! As you know I’m Canadian but guys please go to Vote!
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