In the Central Valley, if you don't live in the sprawling pockets of suburbia or apartment complexes, then you probably live on or next to farmland.
The latter includes my family.
During the flood of kids entering neighborhood streets on the night of Halloween, one might ask, "Where do all the 'hicks' trick-or-treat?"
As terrible as it may sound, not living in a normal neighborhood isn't all that bad. You can be as loud as you want in the back yard and you get to choose where you want to trick-or-treat.
Instead of sitting in the corner of my room weeping about how I was being deprived of free candy, my parents drove my siblings and me to some of the nicest ungated neighborhoods in Modesto.
Hitting street after street, as my dad and his car crawled slowly behind us, we were getting so much candy that we had to dump our bucket in the back seat in order to continue.
After receiving two buckets of prized candy each, we went home to take inventory and let the trading commence.
King-size candy bars everywhere, premade goodie bags filled with Halloween treats — it was every kid's Halloween dream.
However, the familiarity that develops when trick-or-treating among neighbors and childhood friends is absent.
So, to all of those who go trick-or-treating on foot, instead of having to arrive by car, count yourselves lucky to be part of this great neighborhood affair.
While most holidays are strictly family affairs and center around our mothers, fathers, siblings and relatives alike, Halloween always has been known as a night spent among other neighborhood children and friends.
After contemplating if 16 is too old to be trick-or-treating, I realized that with a mother who bans soda and shoves healthy food down my throat, Halloween is one of those holidays I cannot miss out on.
It will be hard to give up this family tradition when the time comes, but for now, Del Rio better watch out.
Kaysie Gonzalez is a junior at Enochs High School and a member of The Bee's Teens in the Newsroom program.
RSS
E-Mail
Print
Order reprints
