I’m sorry to say it, but this is not actually a how-to guide on avoiding moose. (If you really want to know, just try to stay out of their way). But, Halloween is coming, and I’ve been preparing for it by taking advantage of the autumn weather the East Coast offers. These preparations include writing an article for the Chronicle on my childhood Alaskan Halloween experiences. Enjoy!
It was nearing two in the morning by the time all three pies were out of the oven, and I was finally able to check my email. My father had sent his weekly news/checkup, telling of the recent snowfall, and recounting that they’d already had one in September. I wrote him of the night’s activities: making pumpkin pie from scratch. “It’s hard to believe,” I wrote, “but here it’s possible! The pumpkins—even the ones carved and sitting in front of houses–aren’t already frozen.”
My childhood Halloween’s were interesting. While we desperately tried to mimic the Halloween festivities in magazines, movies and television shows, October weather in Alaska forced us to alter our celebrations.
Anchorage is a modern city. The house (with electricity and running water, thank you very much) where I grew up, and where my family still lives, is in a neighborhood with cul-de-sacs and subdivisions. Still, trick-or-treating between the houses was a chilly affair.
Good costumes required thinking. My sister and I often used the same ideas year after year, because we’d perfected the art of knowing how many layers would fit underneath the vampire shirt. The year I mixed it up, and dressed as Harry Potter, most houses confused me for some sort of puffy witch with weird glasses and bad facial scarring. This was, of course, in the beginning of the Harry Potter craze, but I’d still thought people would know of my favorite hero.
Despite extensive decorations, our neighborhood was deserted come Halloween night, and my family would usually meet up with friends in other neighborhoods. The costumes differed, but the idea was the same: stay warm. Hand warmers were in every parent’s pocket, and friends with costumes made from the sewing machine (and not pulled out of the dress-up box!) often had built-in heating.
Outside trick or treating had other issues besides the weather. One year, the snow had softened during the day. Traffic created ruts, and by night, the ruts had hardened into ice. Unfortunately, the ruts were the only place to walk safely. When my father tried to walk on the snow outside of the ruts, he punched through, and nearly twisted his ankle. Another year, our trick-or-treating activities were delayed for about forty-five minutes. Two moose had decided that our yard and driveway were the perfect place to camp out for the night. With two children dressed in bulky clothing and a husky intent on breaking free from the leash, my parents chose to wait until the moose left.
For the faint of heart, or children wanting to wear costumes without layers, there were other options. A heated warehouse became “Trick-or-Treat Town” for several weekends in October, and tickets sold out rapidly. Children went around to the decorated booths to collect candy, while parents stood around and chatted with each other. A similar event occurred in our performing arts center. In tenth grade, when friends and I had run out of both ideas for group costumes and enthusiasm for trick-or-treating, we volunteered to pass out candy at the event. For the first time in my life, my lion costume required only one layer—at least, until it was time to leave.
This year, I’ve really taken advantage of the magazine-looking October fall. I’ve spread out apple picking and pie making over at least a month. Cider consumption in my apartment knows no boundaries, and the minute tickets open up for a haunted house, I’ll be there faster than you can say, well, “boo.”
Still, old habits die-hard. My Halloween costume won’t include hand warmers, but I might dart to a tree suddenly. Don’t be alarmed; out of the corner of my eye, I’ve probably just seen a large van—and mistaken it for a moose.
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- Friends!
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- Small Pumpkin, lots of pies
