Each month, except for August, there is that one holiday we look forward to with joyful expectation. It’s like a little reward that helps us get through the month, much like that special dessert at the end of a great meal. Over the years of writing these newsletters, I've often said summer was my favorite time of year because we were outside all the time, enjoying the warmth of the season. While my father looked forward to Indian summer and fall, as a child, the earliest reprieve from the start of the new school year was Halloween, which seemed like an eternity away. 

Living in the north, the weather seems to set the stage for each holiday. Christmas and New Year’s treat us to a Hallmark winter wonderland if we are lucky. Summer gives us the 4th of July when fireworks light up the sky on those balmy summer evenings. Then we transition to cooler weather, when the leaves have fallen off the trees, leaving skeleton-like bare branches, and shorter days that create a certain mystique around the night of enchantment we call Halloween. Before you know it, we are sitting down at the Thanksgiving table with family and friends, enjoying the traditional turkey dinner with all the “fixins,” along with pies made from pumpkins that weren't carved into some kind of creature a few weeks earlier. While the seasons up north are clearly defined by the weather, that’s not the case when you live in the South; but then again, things are very different in the South.

Years ago, I knew I had crossed the Mason-Dixon line when I pulled into a gas station and, as I filled up, noticed a sign in the window that read, “Fireworks for sale.” Imagine the look on my face: fireworks were illegal in New York, but in the South, no one seemed to mind this explosive combination. A little further down the road, I came across a Walmart, where I ran in for a couple of items. To my surprise, next to housewares, they were selling guns and ammo! As my dad used to say, “You can’t make this stuff up.” Twenty-seven years later, I’ve gotten used to these “idiosyncrasies,” although I still find it odd at times when I can walk into a Publix during the days leading up to the 4^th of July or New Year's and buy beer, flowers, and fireworks, all in the same aisle!

Personally, I have always savored each holiday to its fullest, and as I’ve gotten older, I seem to enjoy them even more. Unfortunately, each season, like each month, seems to pass much too quickly. Just the other day, it was October 1^st, and my wife, Gail, said, “The Christmas season has begun.” I thought, “You’ve been watching Hallmark Christmas movies since July, and I know September flew by, but did I miss October and November as well?” It wasn’t until today that my wife’s words became prophetic: when we walked into Home Depot, to my left was every ghoulish Halloween figure you could imagine, from skeletal dogs to the Grim Reaper, and to my right were Christmas trees and décor, with Mickey and Minnie Mouse adorned in holiday outfits. Did Thanksgiving become a speed bump on the way to Christmas and the New Year? This past weekend, they celebrated Oktoberfest in Fisherman’s Village, and just a few short blocks away, Halloween’s creatures of the night had already taken their place in the front yards of homes in Punta Gorda's historic district. 

Has life picked up speed, or are we rushing each holiday sooner to find some kind of solace that gets us away from the 24/7 negative bombardment the media feeds us? While I've found some in the South who see Halloween as some kind of devil worship, I’ve always viewed it differently: as a night of fun and fantasy, where you can dress up as your favorite character or the superhero you someday envision yourself to be. And what kid is going to turn down the chance to come home with a bag full of candy?

While you’d be hard-pressed to guess the time of year, or the holiday, based on the weather, I have found that even in 80-90-degree year-round weather, we still savor each holiday to the fullest. We may get creative and put our own special twist on each holiday, as you won’t see Santa Claus up north wearing Hawaiian shirts, shorts, and flip-flops, but the anticipation and celebration of each holiday is every bit as enjoyable as it was when I was a kid; we just seem to celebrate them much earlier- just ask anyone at Home Depot, where Thanksgiving has been replaced by the customer service desk that separates Halloween from Christmas.

Perhaps Halloween has become the gateway to the holiday season, as it is the first of back-to-back-to-back holidays we look forward to enjoying with family and friends. With a variety of fun-filled events planned this time of year, along with our year-round warm weather, I can’t help but think my favorite time of year as a child just got extended through the beginning of this holiday season.

We hope the start of this special time of year brings you much joy, happiness, and laughter, which is something we can all use a little more of these days.

-Gary Cardillo