Halloween Heaven

   Pumpkin patches pop out all over Minnesota every October.  And intricate mazes carved out of cornfields entertain with the scary prospect of getting lost forever in a quarter mile square that makes you feel like you are roaming around a whole county. The rusty ashes and elms, though, are only so-so pretty compared to knock-out New England foliage. Even with a "Haunted Places in Minnesota" book in hand the state comes no where close to the flavor of , say, a Salem, Massachusetts and its witch lore.
   But while deciding that Halloween is whatever you make of it, all of a sudden it occurred to me that I actually used to live in THE perfect Halloween place.  I was only one year old and wish I could remember more of my Halloween in Tarrytown, NY where I lived for a year or so..
   Tarrytown, of course, is the setting for the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.  Irving lived in Tarrytown in a wonderful Dutch mansion called Sunnyside perched high above the gorgeous Hudson River and was inspired by a part of town called Sleepy Hollow and all the witch tales of the nearby Catskill Mountain region.
   Tarrytown, now in view of the Tappan Zee Bridge, is all about Sleepy Hollow every day of the year.  There is Washington Irving High School and Sleepy Hollow Middle School, Van Tassle this and Brom Bones that.  It is a delight any time of year but especially at Halloween.  Some day, I vow, I will  spend another Halloween in Tarrytown. Until then I can't wait to savor the spooky opportunity to get back to these  nearly forgotten roots and a chance to cringe at the conjured up vision of Ichabod Crane in hysterical flight from the headless horseman.  Oh what a delicious Halloween that will be!