There’s not much I like about the fall. What’s there really to like? The weather, for one, is no way in comparison to the greatness of summer. Fall is just the depressing transition period between the best and the worst season. Its only purpose is to prepare people for the horrible weather conditions that come with winter.

Despite all of its deficiencies, the season offers two holidays that redeem it somewhat: Halloween and Thanksgiving. Though the food is supergood on Thanksgiving, I now realize that I have always found myself year round looking forward to the most haunted of all holidays.

Halloween is not like the other holidays. It represents something that no other American holiday can offer: pure silliness. What’s the point of Halloween? We know that Christmas is a religious holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ, we know that the Fourth of July celebrates our independence from the British, and we know that New Years Eve rings in beginning of another year to try to do things you weren’t able to accomplish the previous 12 months. These have a focus or back-story to base the celebration around. The pure silliness of the holiday is the thing that I love best about it.

When Halloween creeps up each year, the same question is asked by many: how old is too old to go trick-or-treating? If I had it my way, I would still go trick-or-treating every year. But from experiences in the past, I’ve been denied candy because of my age. I think that this is an outrage! Don’t I deserve candy just as much as the little children who can’t even control the effects of their sugar intake? Every year, I put in the time and effort to pull together a creative costume and all I ask for each year is a little candy in return, preferably Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

I look back on all of my past costumes and they immediately bring a smile to my face. My favorite costume of all time was in 1998; I know it was a long time ago. I inherited the costume from my brother who wore it the year before. I was a baby riding on the back of an old woman. How is that possible, you might ask? Well it boggled the minds of many when they saw me, and there is no greater joy for a Halloween than being told their costume is “awesome.” The “awesome” costumes didn’t stop there; I was a pirate, Cartman from South Park, Peter Pan, a burglar, a skeleton and the list goes on.

Just like in years past, I don’t know what to expect this Halloween. Each year brings with it its own set of surprises. What will I be this year? I’m not sure. Will anyone give me a candy? Doubtful. Will I go to a haunted house that will give me nightmares? I hope, but it is also doubtful. But I’m glad that I have at least one thing to get me through the fall, and that is the knowledge that the best holiday is on its way.

Landon is a senior in Media.