Fall is coming? Fall is here!

With the calls of cicadas now a memory, rice fields stripped bare, and the sound of festival drums echoing through the neighborhood, we can truly feel that fall is here.

Growing up in Canada, October had two important events. First of all, there was a holiday called “Thanksgiving”. Literally this holiday is to “give” “thanks”. Originally this holiday followed the fall harvest and people were thankful for having food to last through the winter. Now, people use this holiday to come together, eat a delicious meal, and see people in your family you do not normally see. Travelling in Canada in winter can be difficult, so this is the best chance to do so. My best memory is of my grandmother’s pumpkin pie. I have eaten pumpkin pie in many places many times, but it is never as good as Nana’s pumpkin pie.

The second important event in October is Halloween. People celebrate Halloween in different ways depending on how old they are. As a small child growing up in Vancouver, my mother came with me as I went to say, “trick-or-treat” and get candy from our neighbors.

In elementary school students in my class wore costumes to school on October 31st. Later, my friends and I would go trick-or-treating together. We went to large apartment buildings. This allowed us to maximize our time/candy ratio. Good strategy!

When kids get too big, it is not acceptable to go door-to-door to say “trick-or-treat”. People will say to you “Aren’t you too old to do this?” In high school my school had a Halloween dance, where students dressed up and had a dance in the gym. The dance usually lasted from 7-9pm. Many students had cars to drive to and from the event.

One of the things I will never forget from Halloween is the street when I was a boy. At night when it was dark, a pumpkin with a candle inside illuminated every porch. It was spooky and exciting and a great time to be a child.

Have a wonderful fall everyone.