Halloween, new and improved?

Happy Halloween ... really ... happy.

Happy because Halloween comes without a major warning this year.

In Laguna, we have been free of major incidents of razor blades in

candy, anthrax has settled into the background and according to the

latest news, the snipers around Washington, D.C. seem to have been

caught.

But what about minor scares, those “boos” that make Halloween the

fun fright it is? Because of so many serious frights, it just doesn’t

seem possible anymore to expect a pleasant, though oftentimes gross

or spooky, Halloween night for children -- even if this year is

better than some.

Sure, the night may be safer because we may know to check the

night’s stash thoroughly for anything suspicious and we may only go

door-to-door in familiar neighborhoods. But what’s lost is that kids

will never have the same all-out trick-or-treat fun on Halloween that

most of us had as children.

Despite this sign of a society growing more and more distrustful

of each other, there is a good side. As the holiday grows to be one

of America’s favorites, it is turning into a day focused on the

dressing up, decorating and gathering for parties or haunted houses.

The result can be a social, fun experience even for little kids,

who probably won’t miss the fear-filled hours of door knocking -- as

long as we remember to keep the candy comin’.