Episode 39: Halloween, Pumpkin Patches, Hayrides and Fall
All things Halloween, Trick or Treat, visiting the pumpkin patch, spooky movies, dreamy apply cider donuts, the joy of rituals and community.
The crisp, cool evening air blowing leaves along the darkened street.
Visiting the pumpkin patch to pick out the very best pumpkin of all time to take home, marveling at how big some of the biggest ones are.
Candy corn, all white and orange stripes. Caramel apples, glossy and brown, crisp and tart on the inside. Apple cider donut with a good dusting of cinnamon.
Picking out your costume, finding all the pieces you need to make it just right, how fun it is to dress up as someone else for a night, to play pretend.
Carving pumpkins with your friends and family, scooping out the seeds to bake later, carving a toothy grin, seeing them all lit up on the porch at night, glowing and warm.
Making hot cider or cocoa, perhaps with a splash of something stronger in it, reveling in the warmth.
Watching your favorite scary movies while huddled under a blanket, the wind outside blowing strong enough to hear.
The generosity of handing out candy at a friend’s house, hearing them knock on the front door, opening it up to a chorus of “Trick or treat!”
Decorating your house with cobwebs, spooky candles, and other dark beautiful objects.
Indulging in your favorite candy, small chocolate bars, perhaps even something you’d normally never eat.
Seeing little dogs and babies dressed up as ridiculous things makes you laugh so much, you can’t help it.
Making the perfect Halloween playlists from the Monster Mash to other sinister songs, so perfect to listen to during this season.
It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is on TV, so maybe you stop to watch it for a bit, you’d forgotten how much you loved it as a child.
A bonfire with smores, roasting marshmallows to perfect crisp golden brown and mashing them together with chocolate and graham crackers, licking your fingers afterward.
The Halloween store that’s only open for a few months, you make your way around picking up different costumes, laughing at the ridiculous ones and reveling in all the decorations.
Seeing those large beautiful white pumpkins decorating a neighbor’s front porch.
Twilight Zone marathons that last long into the night.
Eating butternut squash soup, how earthy, warm and filling it is.
Enjoying a hayride around the farm, stars above you, you pull a warm blanket tight around your shoulders as the wagon jostles you slightly.
Making your way through a corn maze, the sounds of laughter from other visitors, unseen but still around you.
Halloween themed episodes of your very favorite TV shows.
Candy, candy, candy.
Visiting a spooky haunted house with your friends, laughing and shrieking together as you make your way through the scares together.
The ritual of interacting with your neighbors once a year, walking up to their homes, greeting them, you look around and you see, you could feel that you’re part of a larger community.
Happiness Spells Podcast is a five minute list of all the greatest pleasures and smallest joys in life. Increase your capacity for positivity, curiosity and gratitude. New episodes every Monday and Thursday.
This episode of Happiness Spells was written, arranged, recorded and produced by Amanda Meyncke in Los Angeles, California. Our music is by Chris Zabriskie.