Well, it’s spooky season, which means for me, another trip around the sun and getting to indulge in some feel-good Halloween movies.

While many people gravitate towards suspense and horror, I prefer the tamer holiday specials, like Hocus Pocus (actually, I think this movie is terrifying) and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

In It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, the character Linus chooses to miss trick-or-treating to sit in a pumpkin patch and wait for a glimpse of his Halloween Hero, The Great Pumpkin. Year after year, the result is the same, Linus finds his night pumpkin-less. Yet, he is promise-filled. 

Literally, “good-grief,” right? While this Halloween special feels like comfort food in a box, as a kid, I could never understand what kind of person would choose something intangible like hope over reality (Halloween happens once every 365 days after all)! But, I can say that this year I finally understand that determined little Peanut’s ways, and it all started with a news article. No, the headline wasn’t about Covid or the upcoming election–it was about an epic, once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower happening on October 21st at 1 am.

While my astrology knowledge isn’t exactly what I’d call stellar, when I read that a bit of magic was coming to us live in 2020 I subscribed to it. And I subscribed hard. Could it maybe have been because my oldest friend moved approximately 6,000 miles away that very same day? Could it be because my work is completely shut down for another 6 months sending my life spiraling into incessant uncertainty? I don’t know what exactly the impetus was, but I knew that this perfect storm meant sacrificing sleep for something greater.

On the night of the meteor shower, fog thickened the air around me and nothing, I mean nothing, could be seen in that great overhead expanse. Pushing aside everyone’s practicality (“if you can’t see stars, you can’t see a meteor shower”), I chose instead to move ahead with my plan, draping a towel over a damp chair and treating myself to a small pour of bourbon. I found warmth and comfort in the hum of crickets that broke the silence of the night. And for a girl that doesn’t like being still, I huddled for warmth in suspense, waiting for the meteor shower just as Linus waited for The Great Pumpkin, fanatically.

As I sat on a deck that I knew I was lucky to be on, I waited with anticipation, having time to appreciate what I actually chose to do. I chose to put aside my type a nerves and the need for a good night’s rest. I chose instead to live in the moment, and I chose to begin to believe in the magic that life brings us once again.

So did I get my meteor miracle? Maybe it was a trick of imagination, but I saw and felt something that I hadn’t experienced in a long time, hope. And as a cool wind sent me ready to head inside, I saw that breeze for what it was, my second wind. And you know what 2020? There are worse things in life than believing in something big, like The Great Pumpkin.