I lived on a long country road, so we got plenty of exercise walking our costumes to neighbors who were spaced apart, but we had a good time rounding up pounds of goodies and sorting them out in a big heap on our beds afterwards.

By the time I was thirteen or fourteen, a buddy and I had developed a repertoire of songs -- he was a fine banjo player and I backed him up with rhythm guitar on an old nylon string. That Halloween we went up the same road, but we went from house to house playing and singing songs from the Kingston Trio, the Carter family, and Burl Ives, all very enthusiastically. It made everyone grin to have the usual tables turned.

When I went to college I was in Chicago for Halloween evening, and we bought a couple of boxes of Vanilla Wafers and handed them out at random to adults on the street. They seemed to enjoy the reversal of expectation.

But I agree, the celebration of Halloween has largely subsided,it seems, although the smaller numbers who do come are just as enthusiastic about it as ever. Is it cynicism? Disillusionment? MySpace? A more dangerous world? Who knows, really.

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