Changes...

Fifty one or two years ago, when I was young and had an impish turn of mind, I put a lit candle in the window of the cemetery vault, the one in the photo above. The sash was not locked. I just raised it from outside, lit the candle, dripped a bit of wax on the windowsill, set the candle in it and closed the window. Later that night, after the wave of trick or treaters had subsided I retrieved the candle and went home.

The following day our neighbor, who also lived on the far side of the cemetery from the center of the village, commented that she had hardly anyone come to trick or treat her. It seems that none of the kids had been willing to walk past the cemetery and only those who were driven around by their parents (not common in those days) had gotten to our end of town.

As you can see in the photo above, that prank would probably have no effect today. The cemetery is alight all over these days thanks to solar lamps that can be bought in any building supply establishment or even Walmart. There's a streetlight across the road from the vault and I had to work on the photo to make it as ominous as it is. I sort of miss the darkness of old. Halloween was never a favorite holiday of mine but it was a lot spookier back then.