When I was a kid I loved Halloween. I loved to dress up and pretend to be a fantasy character. One year I bought a makeup kit with a gray wig and dressed up as an old lady. Now that I am an old lady, that doesn't seem like such a fun costume.

I went trick or treating with my older brother and the real old lady next door didn't recognize me. I was so proud I fooled her. Either that or she fooled me by pretending she didn't recognize me.

Now I dislike Halloween. It's a nuisance to jump up every 10 minutes to answer the door and hand out goodies. I don't give away candy. I haven't for years. I prefer to give something I can eat if there are any leftovers. Last year I gave away little boxes of raisins. I love raisins.

This year I gave away snack packs of Goldfish. I love Goldfish. I love anything with cheese in it. The snack packs come in a package of nine lunch-box size bags. These are a little high-end for a Halloween giveaway. I bought four boxes for a total of 36 packs.

The little kids started coming just after dark. I went through the first three boxes of Goldfish in about an hour. Older kids came around 8 pm. I ran out of Goldfish at 8:15. I had one pack left that I saved for myself. I put a sign on the door that I was closed for the night and turned off all of the lights so nobody would come. They don't knock if the lights are out.

Years ago, when I lived in Culver City, I remember kids being brought into my neighborhood from some of the rougher neighborhoods in Los Angeles so they could trick or treat in a safer environment than wherever they lived. I thought it was sad that they had to be driven a few miles to go door to door without fear of harm.

I don't know if any of the children who came to my door came from outside of San Ramon. I didn't recognize all of the children or parents who came around last night, but I'm sure most were from the neighborhood.

San Ramon is a very family-oriented community with lots of young children. It's a nice, safe place for kids on Halloween.