Random Thoughts on Halloween

For the last dozen or so years, I've been the grump in my neighborhood. The Halloween Scrooge whose house all the parents tell their kids to avoid.
It's been fine because one of my cats runs in terror at the sound of the doorbell and, frankly,the idea of giving kids candy brings on thoughts of liability lawsuits in these litigious times.
Truth be told, all that up and down from the couch interrupts my own candy eating.
Tonight however, I've gotten a real kick from reading my friends' Facebook posts about their experiences.
One of them had over one-hundred little visitors! That's mind boggling. Another posted a picture of at least a hundred bags of various kinds of candy their kids collected, all neatly organized by type and brand.
My friend Pat, a radio broadcaster in Iowa, reminisced about Halloweens past he spent on the radio giving away gift certificates to children who trick or treated on the air. That struck me as a cool, small town tradition.
Perhaps most meaningful was the post from friends who adopted a child from China earlier this year. They described her joy at going up to folks and asking for candy, clutching her little pumpkin tote. This, a little girl who had been confined mainly to her crib before the adoption, a beautiful child born deaf who has delighted everyone with her happy personality, growth (and ability to learn and use sign language).
I'm sure tomorrow that the media will describe all sorts of mean-spirited and criminal things done this night. I'm equally certain that next year I'll again leave my lights off and doors closed to trick or treaters.
But it brings a smile to know that my child-like Halloween vision of costumed tykes trundling down leaf-strewn sidewalks clutching their sacks with thousands of calories worth of sweet treats remains intact.
What possibly could be devilish about that?