I wasn’t hungry, and I wasn’t experiencing the need for a sugar fix. No, my susceptibility to the mix of candy pumpkins with green stem, crazy corn, miniature corn, black licorice jellybeans, and other delights didn’t stem from gastric juices flowing. My pull into the diminutive shop on 3rd Avenue in New York City, between 35th & 36th, stemmed purely from the retro recollections of Halloween festivity from my youth. In those days of innocence, neither the calorie content nor nutritional value, or lack therein, dictated my adeptness at popping pumpkins one after the other into my mouth.
Life is different now from those carefree days. With my own children grown and residing out of state, Halloween can come and go without any of the typical fanfare at my house of shopping for costumes, rushing to Halloween parades at the local mall, or creating ghoulish getups to wear at work. No, Halloween festivity has never been my thing. I don’t liked masks of any kind and haven’t yet out grown my skepticism of those scary, obnoxious, and ugly masks that seem to delight and thrill Halloween revelers.
Truth be told that while Ishy away from the world of make-believe horror, blood dripping Dracula’s, and haunted houses surrounded by grave yards and ghosts, the warmer hues of autumn are the aspects of October that spark my endorphins flowing. Those aspects include gobbling up the fall mix of plump soft chewy pumpkins and crazy corn candy. For me, it’s the economically priced bag of candy that you can buy at the local A& P, that delights and thrills me.
So, why did I spend $12.78 on my bag of “Heavenly Delight!”? Only a lover of crisp falls days under the gray/bue of a late October sky would fully understand. Not only do the warm hues of autumn spark endorphins, they also spark the intrinsic turn toward family and home as longer days bring us inside to warm by the fire.
As a child, I remember the fun that my brother and me had carving pumpkins and pulling out the slimy seeds entangled inside. Once we felt we had given Mr. Pumpkin a perfect Halloween face, we stood back and admired our work.
Each year, as an adult, I can’t wait to begin my tradition of tucking away summer and bringing out my fall decorations the week after Labor Day weekend. My next step in setting autumn ablaze is lighting my cinnamonspice candle. And, the final phase of my tradition is waiting for that perfect autumn day of dipping temperatures, and baking an old-fashioned apple pie like mother used todo, that fills my apartment with the aroma of home.
I spent $12.78 on a bag of Heavenly Delights! because that moment of indulgence reminded me of a lifetime of investment. The memories I hold and cherish for making my apartment inviting to my friends and family, enriches my spirit. And, to recapture a bit of those care free days.
After getting home with my mix of Halloween candy, I tore off the Heavenly Delights! sticker that held the bag closed and started popping pumpkins in my mouth. I have to admit that after eating a few, plump pumpkins and devouring a handful of crazy corn, I started to feel like a lump of sugar. This was followed by the guilt of gluttonous consumption. I can’t possibly eat all this! What am I going to do with the rest?
A phrase came to mind that it’s more blessed to give than to receive, and I thought of two friends I was seeing over the next few days. Suddenly, I had my answer.
Remembering I still had two miniature Chinese take out containers left over from Christmas last year, I divided the remaining confections and filled the two containers. Next, I curled some ribbon with the blade of a pair of scissors and placed them on top of each container. This was helping to replace my self-incrimination with a renewed sense of warmth.
Meeting one friend for breakfast at the Ridge Diner, and meeting another friend at DePiero’s for tea would surely bring me my own heavenly delight.
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