It’s a day where kids get trucked into neighbourhoods where they don’t belong, to obtain sugared treats that mom and pop are going to toss in the trash and give a “safe” bag of candy to.

Do I sound curmudgeonly? Damn right I do. When I was younger, we used to go around our neighbourhood, but we NEVER got taken to other neighbourhoods to beg for candy. Of course, unwrapped treats were off limits, as were candied apples, caramel apples, and popcorn balls.

These days? Kids (and I use that phrase LOOSELY) of all ages come and bang on your door — even if you don’t have your porch light on. Just the thing you want — kids of 17 or 18, looking over your shoulder to case your house and come back at a later time to steal your canned goods and your stereo.

No, really, I’m not paranoid. But in this day and age — there are FOUR children under the age of 12 that live in this neighbourhood. If you count five streets in each direction, you may have a total of 20 kids. I’ve stood, in the dark, and counted at least 60 kids going up and down the streets, as mom & pop, in a minivan, watch as they go from house to house.

With the economy being in a downturn, even buying treats from the Dollar store to hand out was more than I was willing to front. Of course, in the last 11 years, I’ve not given candy out once — simply because I work with a number of parents and the did all confirm what I mentioned above — they take the little plastic pumpkins or treat bags, and dispose of them once the kids are home, giving them a bag filled with treats that they bought themselves, just to make sure that no one has slipped poison, drugs, razor blades, or needles into the candies.  It’s a shame that our culture has come to this, isn’t it?

Moving past that, however, have a Happy Halloween. Go to a party, throw a party, BE the party. Turn the lights all on (after trick or treating hours are over, obviously) and dance like there’s no tomorrow. Drink wine from the bottle. Call up an old friend and tell them how much you miss them.

Most importantly, however, celebrate life. It’s another day that you’ve woken up alive, and if it’s worth living, it’s worth living WELL.

After having a year with basically no winter to speak of, Mother Nature has decided that it is well beyond time for those in my part of the world to “chill out”, as it were, and conveniently dropped the temperatures a good 40 degrees F from where we were just last week.

Mind you, I rather fancy the cooler weather, and since it’s almost November, it’s only right that the skies turn grey, that the flurries start to fly, and the frost comes on the pumpkin.

Speaking of pumpkin, however, brings back to mind those absolutely horrid supermarket pies that are overspiced, over cooked, and feel like you have a mouth of mush if you were so inclined to eat them. Myself? I’d rather take my chances and make a pumpkin ravioli. Or a soup. Something where the vegetable (fruit? Yes, a pumpkin is actually a fruit!) shines and not the spice cabinet. Think of it much like squash or sweet potatoes (which, also, common to popular misconceptions, are NOT “yams”. A yam is a different vegetable all together).

To-may-to, to-mah-to. The improtant thing to remember is to put some colour in your diet, and to eat what you like. Take it easy on the fats, and get your veggies in. (Say what you will, but there’s some correlation — I’ve been losing weight, and increasing my intake of veggies, and my eyes have IMPROVED as I have gotten older. Granted, I’m still nearsighted, but it’s not anywhere near as bad as it once was (in fact, it is over a full point improvement in each eye).

Also… take time each day, even if only 30 seconds, to close your eyes and focus on something that brings you a great deal of joy. There’s really no better medicine for the spirit.