Halloween in my 'hood

I live in a new-ish neighborhood of town houses. I remember watching the development being built from my old apartment (it's true, I didn't move far) and hating the sight of it, thinking it looked too much like Northern Virginia. When I started looking for a house to buy, I didn't even consider looking at these town homes. I was really against them for some reason. But my real estate agent wanted me to see one of the units just in case, and sure enough I ended up liking it. I liked the size, the location, the fact that I don't have to do any yard maintenance, and the amazing view off my deck. So here I am, in a place that is great overall even if it has the soul-less look of NoVa.

Unfortunately I don't really know most of my neighbors. Being an introvert, I'm not great at meeting new people. There was even one terribly awkward time when I shoveled snow for an hour right next to my neighbor who was also shoveling snow, and we didn't say a word to each other. (To be fair, I think he might be even shier than I am. I coincidentally sat next to him at a movie once and he fumbled a little, not knowing how to reply to my "hi there, I think you're my next-door-neighbor" besides saying "my wife will be right back" and leaving the rest of the talking to her.) Anyway, I don't really feel much of a sense of community with my neighborhood except for one day of the year: Halloween.

My street is awesome on Halloween. Lots of houses decorate for the occasion. My pumpkin and owl decoration look pretty measly compared to several of the houses. And apparently word has spread that it's a good street for trick-or-treating, because we get a ton of kids. Today my coworkers were complaining that they had little or no kids show up at their doors last night, but I sat outside on my stoop with a steady stream and passed out over 300 pieces of candy. Some got two pieces. Some only got one. That means a lot of kids.

(Full disclosure, this photo was taken last year. I took a couple photos last night but it was too dark and they aren't worth sharing.)

Clearly many (most) of them don't actually live in the neighborhood. But I love that on this one night a year I join a bunch of my neighbors hanging out outside sharing candy and a friendly Halloween spirit with kids from our larger community. It makes me proud of where I live, and happy I ended up in this place at which I originally turned up my nose.