Remember when your mom spent two weeks sewing you a Halloween costume? You would spend all Halloween night going door-to-door collecting candy.

Then you would come home, dump it all over the floor and search for your favorite candies as the Peanuts television special “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” played on television. Those days seem to be gone. What happened?

Even though I no longer collect candy on Halloween night, for the past few years I have spent weeks planning the scariest decorations and the best scares for the trick-or-treaters. This year was no exception, but to my dismay, we received only four small groups of visitors.

Where has the spirit of Halloween gone?

At first I thought maybe it was just the neighborhood I was in this year, but as I drove through different parts of town, every street I saw was dark, desolate and there was no candy or costumes to be seen.

I currently live in Tehachapi and seriously, last year, the streets were bustling with kids even as the rain and snow began to fall. I expected this year in the warmer weather of Bakersfield it would be even better. There were no tricks or treats to be found. Perhaps some areas were packed, but it was odd to drive for blocks and blocks and not see one candy light on.

I must say I truly miss the old Halloween spirit. Then, on top of my disappointment at the turnout, the last group that stepped up to our house of terror did not ring for candy, but simply ran away with two of our lanterns.

They weren’t expensive or flashy by any means. They only consisted of an old jar, fish-tank pebbles and a votive candle, but it’s the principle of the thing. I mean how pathetic do you have to be to steal 25-cent lanterns? They didn’t even stop and get the free candy first.

We all need to take a step back in our childhoods. Carve pumpkins, make your own costume, decorate your house bigger and better than your neighbor, and hand out tricks and treats until the last costume has been put away. Save Scrooge for Christmas.