Halloween

Tonight after seeing the superbly acted but unsettling movie Take Shelter, I went for a walk again in my neighbourhood in search of ghouls. I found this lovely set of skeletons, skulls mostly. My neighbourhood is one that enjoys thoroughly decorating and there is hardly a plastic pumpkin to be seen here. The decorating is unique, scary and amusing all at once. I saw a bride and groom hanging from a balcony eave, and the skeleton house had a full chorus of witches and zombies covering all the balcony. On other lawns, scarecrows also appear, and on lamps hands hanging limply. Truly magical for a child on Halloween night. (Their little eyes ignoring the market values and politics of this holiday.)

But on this night, as I walk on the rustling carpet of dry leaves, the light is yellow on my street and the cold is crisp but forgiving. Children are soon in bed and adults looking like Pipi Longstokings or pirates are holding parties all over the city. Suddenly in the distance, I see three long figures advancing towards me wearing long black coats, long hair and black hats. An eery proposition on such a week-end. But you see, I live in the area where Hasidic Jews and wealthy French Canadians cohabit in indifferent tolerance of each others. The three figures are simply neighbours on their Saturday evening stroll or coming back from the synagogue. Sadly for them, they know nothing of the mummy pumpkin on my stairs (which I share with a family of two little girls), the mummy pumpkin who had one baby on Thursday and another one on Friday. Now one big pumpkin and two little pumpkins await the revellers on Monday. Who knew pumpkins were so fruitful?