Happy day after Halloween.

I'm fully aware that for many of you, it's not so happy. There are busted pumpkins all over your lawn and the street in front of your house. Those extra rolls of toilet paper are missing from your cupboard and can be seen adorning the elm trees down the block. You went to cook eggs for breakfast and only had one left in the fridge. Your little ones staggered downstairs a few minutes ago complaining of a terrible tummy ache.

Is that what's bugging you, Bucky? Yeah, I can almost see many of you nodding as I picture you reading my opening paragraph. I guess we should count our blessings. Neither Cabbage Night nor Halloween involves nearly as many serious pranks as it did when I was a youngster. That's progress.

Few, if any, haystacks are burned these days. No privies are overturned. No hay wagons are rolled down Rand Hill Road. No wax or soap art shows up on your picture window or your car's windshield. No gravestones are desecrated. No old sofas or tires are burned along the Turnpike Extension. Perhaps you remember when such Halloween pranks happened. I certainly do — and not too fondly, either.

I, for one, like the newer, gentler Halloweens of recent years. There is one thing I wish had remained part of the modern celebration. That is dunking for apples. I saw a television commercial the other day with a girl engaged in that pleasant activity and I was immediately inundated with my own dunking recollections. There was no way I could remain dry during the process. All the stems had been removed, and I was never able to push the apple to the side of the tub and bite into it. For me, it was hold your breath, shove it to the bottom and lock on with those big front teeth. Then, of course, you shake your head violently when you come up and mess up the whole room.

Some of you might complain that it was unsanitary with all those kids in the same tub. My mother always told us we'd eat a peck of dirt in our lifetimes, and I'm quite sure I ate my peck before age 10. It didn't hurt me then and it doesn't hurt me now.

So, when you go into your kitchen this morning and step on soft chocolate candies with your bare feet, don't holler at the kids for leaving them there after dumping their trick-or-treat containers out on the floor. Just smile and be glad the police didn't bring Johnny or Susan home last night with a stern warning or worse.

ALL SAINTS' DAY
Sadly, on Halloween, we no longer have many kids coming to our house, which is located a ways back from the main street here in Morrisonville. We love them and so do our dogs, Kia and Guss. We always buy tons of candy to give out just in case dozens of trick-or-treaters make their way to our door. But, alas, they do not. My generous girth is an up-front testimony to the fact that I always fulfill what I take as my solemn obligation to eat everything that is left over.

In our religion, today is All Saints' Day — a day to honor all the saints of the church. Monday is All Souls' Day, when we remember all of our relatives and friends whom we have lost, especially those who died while serving their country in the Armed Forces.

For many of our Spanish speaking friends, the Day of the Dead or El Dia de los Meurtos (All Souls' Day) also involves a two-day celebration. For them, it is likewise a time to remember those who have gone before. Making their own personal altars and visiting graves with special gifts are important ingredients.

I write ghost stories, so I'm interested in the belief that on the Day of the Dead, the souls of the dearly departed find it easier to make contact with those who are still in the land of the living.

Kaye and I hope you had a happy and safe Halloween and that you spend today feeling good with your pleasant memories of Halloweens past.

Further, if you manage to make contact with the spirits of your loved ones who passed over, let me know. You just might show up in my next book.

Have a great All Saints' Day and please, drive carefully.

Gordie Little was for many years a well-known radio personality in the North Country and now hosts the "Our Little Corner" television program for Home Town Cable. Anyone with comments for him may send them to the newspaper or e-mail him at gordandk@aol.com.