Trick-Or-Treat

Another BLAST of a Halloween here in ol' Hong Kong. Redhill has it happenin'.

ROARRRR!!! ~ Scary PINK Dragon ~

Pre-Treating-Party

And off we go!!
Stick Person (a good friend), Pink Dragon, and Wicked Witch of the West:

Special Broom :: That broom in ABear's hand was a fine find. She had been eyeing the street-cleaning lady's broom for weeks. Have you ever tried to explain to a 7 year old why they can't just buy someone's broom as they are hand-sweeping your street clean? 

Anyhow, Daddy swept in for the rescue. He went searching. An old woman saw him futilely trying to buy work-brooms from folks -- she beckoned him to follow her back into a dark alley "you want broom?" which he did. She offered up this undeniably hand-made item. I think it's a work of art. 

This year we wised up and started before dusk. Two hours later - we were still out - and the crowds had thronged. Water stations, adult beverage garages, and scary-street-mime (sorry, no photo of that!). It's really something. There's no hiding kids' eyes or protecting that childhood bubble here...

Dragon on the prowl...

She was quick to figure out how it works. About 3 houses in, she started announcing "nudder house, mommy, nudder house!" and took off at a trot.

Daddy and his red wig :)

happy discovery
- you can eat AS you walk! -

shockingly - Bunny took a candy out of this ghoul's gloved hand with barely a flinch.

happy run-in with the preschool set

seriously?

garage turned party-for... for... who?

yes, even cotton candy machines behind spooky blow-up-houses

I've been thinking about Halloween.. AllHallowTide - (liturgical calendar) - a day to remember those who have passed. It is commercialized now, yes, but it is more than that. Wiki explains that it has Christian roots. Though some scholars wonder if it was linked to an already existing Pagan holiday. Weren't most Christian holidays melded with or celebrated purposely near pre-existing pagan holidays? The dance macabre (church cemetery occupants rising for a night rompus) may predicate our romping about in costume at night.

This time of year - the world over - people tune into those who have gone before. A bridge between the living and the dead? A deep human connection to each other that surpasses our present moment. Mexico has Dia De Los Muertos. India celebrates Pitru Paksha - night of the dead. Samhain is an ancient Wiccan day (Nov 1) a special day in which the boundary between this world and 'the otherworld' can be more easily crossed as we head into the dark days leading to winter solstice. Hong Kong has Hungry Ghost Festival (earlier than Halloween) and Chung Yeung (October) is when families visit ancestors at their graves for ancestor worship. Japan has Obon (festival of the dead :: festival of lanterns) when those who've passed visit their loved ones (not in a scary way). Cambodia also has its own festival-of-the-dead where they offer plates of sweet food to their ancestors.

Whether this time of year has a stronger cosmic connection or not -- it makes me feel more connected to all humankind just thinking about how cultures around the world celebrate and acknowledge those who have lived before.

Even if just to eat boatloads of candy on their behalf. :)

Book-O-Ween at school **type-cast

 

grade one teachers