I didn't actually celebrate Halloween--I stayed in, painted a little, and caught up on a couple of phone calls. The most Halloween-related thing I did was talk to the Keelhauler on the phone while he tried to convince me to dress up as a ghost and walk around the docks. He thought it was a great idea, and enthusiastically encouraged me to "go scare the crap out of somebody!" I doubt that the vision of me dressed in a sheet with cut-out eyes would scare anyone, except in the sense that they'd become uneasy about the state of my mental health, but he was typically difficult to dissuade.

Anyway, it was a beautiful day, very clear and cool, and lots of people took their boats and kayaks out on the water, and all my neighbors were around, working on projects and chatting.

It was a pleasant, but perfectly ordinary day, so I was surprised when I opened the paper this morning and read a quote from one Heather Laskin, age 16, who said, "Halloween is such a dark, satanic day. Here, Jesus' light really shines through." The place where Jesus' light was shining was at an event called "Light the Night Family Halloween Alternative," attended by a reported 6,000 people desperate to escape the satanists roaming the streets on that, their most powerful night of the year. I guess. (Apparently, I've just been deceived by a Lie of the Devil, because the rituals of dressing up and grubbing candy from neighbors don't seem particularly sinister to me.)

Anyway, admission to the "Halloween Alternative" was three bucks, which allowed the costumed partygoers to experience an inflatable Jolly Jump and slide, a rock-climbing wall, a rock band, and go-karts. Also featured was a booth where one could shoot an arrow and destroy "real household items" like a TV set and a lamp, to win candy. The booth was staffed by a youth minister who's quoted as saying "How many people (wouldn't) like to go into a house and just shoot stuff?"

This year marked the tenth anniversary of "Light the Night," so apparently it's a big success. I was so gratified to learn that in this dark and evil world, there's a place where good Christians can go each October 31st, dressed in costume, to shoot arrows and paint guns and collect candy, and avoid participating in the evil, satanic rituals of Halloween.