Witches, Webs, and Walking Shoes

Our Piedmont Recreation Department’s Walking on Wednesdays group is going to have its annual Halloween week tour of the Mountain View Cemetery on next Wednesday, October 29th, but this past Wednesday was not too early to start getting into the spirits of Halloween. There were some spectacular, maybe even “spooktacular”, house decorations around the central part of town and we thought it would be fun to go see them. There was a strong turnout of 46 walkers but only one K-9 best friend at the Exedra for the fun during our weekly walk.

Before we got started, there was a reminder that next Wednesday, October 29th, we will have our annual Halloween week tour of the Mountain View Cemetery. It will be led by long time cemetery docent Jane Leroe. We will meet in front of the main mausoleum at 10:30 AM. K-9 best friends on leashes are welcome in the cemetery.

Then, the history of Halloween was shared. Its origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) when people lite bonfires and wore costumes to ward off ghosts. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest, and the beginning of the dark, cold winter. It was a time of year often associated with death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when they believed ghosts returned to earth, and built huge, bonfires to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to their Celtic gods. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins.

By A.D. 43, the Roman Empire had conquered most of the Celtic territory and during the 400 years they ruled it, they combined their Roman festivals with the Samhain celebration. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a day to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day incorporated some Samhain traditions. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. It evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, wearing costumes, and eating treats. However, it was not until after the mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th Century that Halloween became a major American holiday.

With a new understanding behind the crazy fun of Halloween we went up and then down Highland Avenue. At Highland and Sierra Avenue we had our ghost sighting in a front yard. We went down to and then up Hazel Lane, passing a huge spider embracing a house, to Requa Road. Not far down Requa was a Universal Studios Hollywood-worthy front yard packed with a huge skeleton and other Halloween decorations. It was also worthy of a group photo and some more information about the holiday.

Halloween is the second-largest commercial holiday in the United States, trailing only Christmas in total consumer spending. Total Christmas spending was much greater at $950 billion in 2023, but Halloween’s projected 2025 spending is a record $13.1 billion. There are purchases of around $4.3 billion for costumes, $3.9 billion for candy, and $4.2 billion for decorations. A portion of that $4.2 billion had been spent on this front yard.

We retraced our steps back to Highland and went down it to Wildwood Avenue. The maple trees that line both side of Wildwood still had some of their burgundy leaves and provided a fall colors look. On Wildwood we spotted ghosts hanging from a balcony and a cluster of disturbing, stacked skulls. Thankfully, everyone on the walk was over the age of six. Further up the street a real live squirrel on a front porch was enjoying a lunch of miniature pumpkins. On Crocker, just before Lincoln Avenue, was another impressive, scary front yard with a human skeleton walking a dog skeleton.

Then it was down Lincoln, past Piedmont Mayor Anderson’s decorated home that included marigold flowers. It was noted these are the iconic flower of Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), because their vibrant color and strong scent are believed to guide spirits to loved ones.

On the corner of Sheridan and Caperton Avenues was a skeleton resting in peace with its back leaning on a front yard tree. We continued our return to the city center, but at June Yee’s suggestion, we went up Mountain and Craig Avenues to see not the biggest decoration of the walk, but one of the more creative. In a front yard were six small witches, holding hands in front of an actual, water steaming caldron. It reminded some walkers of Auguste Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais (“Les Bourgeois de Calais”) sculpture.

Soon we were back on Highland, and we made our way down Vista Avenue past City Hall and the Corey Reich Tennis Center courts to Hillside and Magnolia Avenues. We were impressed by the huge skeleton and other decorations in front of the Recreation Center where the Recreation Department will be hosting a fun trick or tasty treat event from 6 to 8 PM on Halloween. A quick look at the soon-to-be-opened pool was one last treat for our morning fun walk.