Trick or Treat

I'm a Halloween curmudgeon, a grouchy candy eater; I would choose the basement and a darkened porch if left alone. But Nan, on the other hand, welcomes the trick or treaters, the cute kids in their costumes only desiring a bit of candy for their treat. It's not the act of giving out candy or the chit chat with the neighbors that disturbs me yearly on this night; it's the unpredictable interruption into my evening. Seriously, if Trick or Treat could simply be scheduled, this is what I'd like to see:

• 5:45-6:00 Infants with their parents
• 6:15-6:45 Children accompanied by adults
• 7:00-7:15 Random children alone or in groups, adults not necessarily present
• 7:15 Porch lights out throughout the neighborhood. 

And then, I could celebrate in the neighborhood chit chat, rather than sitting in a room shut off from the festivities (with the dog of course), missing that I wasn't at the door when Nan met some new neighbors a block down, out for the evening, introducing themselves to anyone with a porch light on.