As holidays go…

As holidays go, Halloween is a pretty good one.

As a kid, it meant being out after dark with your friends (and without adults: yay!), plenty of candy (something we seldom had around our house, other than at Easter or when someone brought a box of Candy Cupboard or Hebert’s chocolates for Thanksgiving or Christmas: yay!), and the next day off (parochial schools were off because November 1st – All Saints Day – was a Holy Day of Obligation. The obligation was going to Mass. Once you knocked that off, you had the day to yourself. Plus you got to lord it over pubs – public school kids – who were stuck in school: yay!).

As an adult, never having lived in a building where kids actually come trick or treating, I’ve enjoyed roaming around seeing cute kids in cute costumes and/or helping hand out candy at my sister’s in Salem, which is insanely Halloween mad. (And where – at least at Check Trish - there is always an ample supply of Butterfingers.)

This year, I plan on laying low.

The weather is supposed to be iffy, but if it’s okay, I’ll walk around my neighborhood, which, while nowhere near the madness of Salem, is pretty big on Halloween. We have lots of old houses, brick sidewalks, occasional cobblestones, gaslit streets, iron railings and grates…so it can be kind of spooky. Lots of people decorate their places, and there are always tons of kids coming in from everywhere.

This is one of my mornings to work in the Resource Center at St. Francis House, a day shelter providing lots of services – from the most basic up to housing and job assistance. The Resource Center is on the basic side. We sign people up for showers, computers, and the phone. Hand out toothbrushes and other toiletries. Issue new IDs. Direct traffic. And sometimes just lend an ear to our guests.

It may sound depressing, but it’s actually a lot of fun – most of the time. It’s tough seeing those who are in the throes of addiction, especially young folks. But most of the folks who hang out in the Resource Center are just down on their luck. Substance abuse. Mental health issues. Recent incarceration. Sometimes the trifecta. But what the people who come through our doors – even if they haven’t made bad choices (which plenty of them have) - all have in common is that they’ve all had bad luck.

And another thing they all pretty much have in common is that they like a treat. When we get fancy donated hotel toiletries, our guests get a real kick out of it. When we have some extra goodies around – packs of kleenex, little sewing kits – folks are delighted.

Today should be busy. Iffy weather brings people inside, and at the end of the month – when the disability or veterans or whatever checks have run out - we tend to be really busy.

Life has played enough tricks on our folks, so I’ll be bringing in some treats: a couple of bags of Halloween candy to have at the desk. I will include Butterfingers in the mix, but promise (myself) not to pig out on it.

While Butterfingers is my preferred Halloween candy, I’m also a complete and utter sucker for candy corn.

When I see it at CVS (late August), I always pick up a bag. I also like harvest creams – a mix of candy corn, pumpkins, moons, cats… But that’s hard to find these days. Mostly the best you can do (unless you’re ordering online or shopping at a pricey candy shop on The Cape, where I recently purchased a small bag of old-fashioned harvest creams) is a combo of candy corn and pumpkins.

When it’s just candy corn, I prefer things straight up, but there are apparently plenty of aficionados who use candy corn as an ingredient. Although I’m okay with candy corn as an add-on to something frosted, I’m a hard no on using it in something.

But in case you’re interested, here’s a roundup of recipes that include candy corn. Use at your own peril.

Happy Halloween!