Most people — myself included — would claim that autumn is their favorite of the four seasons. The days begin to become shorter, and the overcast skies promote sleeping the day away. The weather is perfect, and all you need is a light jacket. The leaves change their color just to remind us all how beautiful nature remains to be. The trees drop their leaves so that they can be trampled underfoot and produce the most satisfying sound that man is able to perceive — crunch!

Is there anything sweeter than hearing the nice crunch of leaves as you walk through the trees hand-in-hand with someone you love as you sip some pumpkin-flavored seasonal drink? There is not.

Fall is a wonderful time of the year, but it can never claim the top spot as long as Christmastime is still in the running. Winter has its perks as well and is just as majestic as fall; but fall has Halloween.

Halloween is as decadent as it is depraved. When we were young, Halloween was all about the in-school party and pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, eating candy and then leaving the shitty candy to sit in your orange jack-o’-lantern-style candy pail until next Halloween.

But as you grow up, Halloween evolves right along with you. It has become a time of mass consumption and vandalism. The costumes have gone from trying to be cool or scary to being funny or revealing. Well, it’s all right with me. I suppose it’s just natural that as we change, our holidays adapt as well. Besides, we’ll take any excuse to drink; even Christmas, Easter, Ramadan and Columbus Day aren’t safe from our insatiable thirst for a strong drink.

The great thing about Halloween is that it isn’t prejudiced. It has no religious (well, not anymore) or national ties, so all are welcome to partake in festivities freely without feeling like an outsider, and most people do. Even the most conservative of people decide to cut loose and go wild on Halloween.

Well, Halloween is this weekend, and I suppose that it will be as wild as it’s ever been here in Kent. We all have a personal responsibility to go out and have a good time. Be safe, though, and try not to get arrested. The Kent police as well as the Kent State police will be out and about in full force, and they will show no mercy. Well, why should they? I’m sure they get tired of having to deal with a bunch of drunken kids that can’t even string together a sentence.

However, do not fear the police. They are there to protect and serve. But, if you do have reason to be cautious around them, then just act natural — and don’t stop to take a rest somewhere conspicuous when you’re wasted and have any type of paraphernalia on you.

Halloween is a great time for the old and young alike, and everyone has their own rituals and ways of how they celebrate. Yet if you’re some grumpy Halloween Scrooge, then look on the bright side: Thanksgiving isn’t that far away.