Peter, Peter pumpkin eater...

Okay, so I said that I'd had it with Halloween. No more, I said. However, reviewing my picture folder I came across this unique approach to the classic Jack O'Lantern. Wow! How barbaric can you get? Peter, Peter pumpkin eater indeed! So Peter was a cannibal all those years (though the nannies always protected me from that knowledge.) Who'd ever have guessed it.

Comic relief

Here's what I saw when I entered the MD's office this morning for a check-up. Right in front of the window where the receptionist sits. Unless something really new and terrific comes along to outclass such excellent and fitting Halloween decor, consider this is my contribution to the holiday celebration.

Of course, I had more in mind when I planned this post. Three comic strips I've clipped which were particularly poignant. Number one, above, takes me all the way back to my childhood and then to my own motherhood. Long, long ago in the far beyond, my mom made a point of declaring that all store bought witch or princess costumes only proved that the wearers (or certainly their mothers) lacked imagination. She managed to convince me, though I had a hard time convincing the dotter that a fine Cat in the Hat outfit that I made from cast off grey sweaters plus a big stovepipe hat fashioned from a kraft paper grocery bag, painted in those famous red & white stripes, beat all hell out of outfits from the store. Of course, back in those days, All Hallow's Eve had not become a big national holiday worthy of huge temporary shops dedicated to ghosts, goblins and even costumes for Rover. I wonder if anybody bothers to dream up a one-off costume these days; so many themes have already been coopted by the Halloween industry.

You've probably noted that I have a habit of treating The Google in the style of a modern oracle. I felt absolutely vindicated when I caught this bit in the Arizona Republic a couple of days ago. Repeat after me, ALL PRAISE TO THE GOOGLE.

Finally a memorial to my dear, late cat, Max, who, like Fuzzy, was likely to suddenly march up and bite, without warning or reason. I still miss Max very much; he never returned home.

Note: I realize that I have jumped copyright on these cartoons and hope that the owners will be kind enough to consider this post the equivalent of inviting my friends to see the clippings that I post on my refrigerator.

Deflation

All right, already. I can see the temptation. A quick prick of a needle -- and whoosh, a sumo wrestler no more. I admit to having such evil thoughts the other night along Mt. Vernon Street.

One reason is that I really don't like holiday inflatables. No way. They are gross and puffy to look at. The colors are primary plastic garish. I know that I should be less judgmental, that the blow-it-up figure substitutes air for stuff and thus could be considered less wasteful. But then few (if any) folk celebrated Xmas or Halloween with such huge monstrosities in years gone by.

On the other hand, seeing that deflationary impulse in action, reminds me that there's an anti-social streak of plain, old-fashioned destructive meanness in action when a string of inflatables are struck by darts well before the holiday arrives. How does this compare with overturning outhouses or laboring to move a Model-A to the top of a church, as in the G.O.D. (Good Old Days)? I'm not sure if I'm up to picking apart the threads of a possible argument pro or con.

My first Mt. Vernon Halloween

To explain: Mt. Vernon Street is a residential area of substantial, well kept older homes; for a number of years, it has played host to Prescott's Halloween night trick-or-treaters. In fact, the affair is enough of a tourist draw from the Phoenix environs, and possibly elsewhere, that the city subsidizes the give-away candy. (And if I lived on Mt. Vernon, I think I'd ask for help; participating households are reputed to pass out as much as $600-700 worth of goodies each on this one night of the year!) BTW, though I've lived in town for, it seems, forever, this is the first time I've actually done the Mt. Vernon Halloween scene.

Not everybody takes part in the big contest for the creepiest decor, though I believe this old house with a tower rates as a likely #1.

A few other examples of Halloween on Mt. Vernon...

Since I wasn't equipped to shoot night scenes, I can't offer any really, really crowded crowd shots. I arrived at about 4:30 pm, when parents with the littlest ones show up. As dusk approached, more and more people appeared. The teens and costumed grown-ups show after dark. Mainly.

And then there was this cat, not named Floyd, who found the street without any traffic to be hard to resist crossing. The people were all on the sidewalks.

Though far too much of the decorations and the costuming come from the Halloween stores to meet my taste, a few outfits caught my attention. For example, Dorothy came in from either Kansas or Oz, though Toto was not with her. There were enough dogs present to make up for his absence, though.

I don't think this flower lady (or lady flower) came out of the store either.

Certainly Candidate McCain was store-bought. BTW, you may remember the McCain-Obama scarecrows over on Park Avenue. They lasted three weeks and then both were kidnapped.

Of all the hosts along the street, this couple was my favorite, even though they did not give away any goodies but just chatted with the kids as they passed by.

Almost all the other hosts were costumed and waiting on their porches to give away goodies.

Here's how I felt after the evening on Mt. Vernon. Haven't seen any report about how big the traffic was; never did find out when the tradition started. Can anybody out there fill us in? Oh, yes, if you want more Mt. Vernon pictures, go to the Courier gallery. And, if you want a bit of a snicker at their expense, go to this Halloween post.

Sky monsters

In olden times, maps of unexplored turf often were labeled "here be monsters!" Or other equally daunting admonitions. Herein I present two images that happened to me as Halloween approaches, suggesting that in our modern day, the skies harbor their own monsters. So much for you, United Airlines. Friendly, hah!

PS -- no PhotoShopping; these are directly from camera.

Scarecrow time

The scarecrow market went wild this fall. Take, for example, JoAnn (above) or WalMart (below). Anybody out there who can explain this? Overproduction in China? A marketing man figuring that back-to-the-land might be in fashion with the economy down? The need for a seasonal symbol that appeals even to those who for religious reasons eschew Halloween? Or just one of those silly fads that pop up from time to time, like the hula hoop or Rubik's cube.

What's more, local folk are buying scarecrows and installing them. Good decorating idea, too; they stay up through both Halloween and Thanksgiving. Two holidays for the price of one.

But here's a new twist: look carefully at the pair up on the porch railing. See anyone familiar? I guess a lot of people missed the candidates and so they were moved into the very front of the yard at the well-decorated Park Avenue house. You can't miss them when you drive by. Pretty bipartisan, I'd say.

Leftovers from holidays past

As I walked late this afternoon, I was taken aback by the extent of the holiday leftovers. Halloween "spider web" still covering shrubbery. And being covered, in turn, by leaves shed by the sycamores.

And this sad little sign which suggests heavy traffic the night of October 31.

Some displays which remain are a little less tied to the ghosts and goblins theme and segue rather well into a harvest theme for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

And, not having suffered a frost as yet, the fall flowers remain to contribute to the festivities. Even a lone marigold growing in the barren gravel.

One More Halloween!

I didn't know if Mom would be up to wearing a costume
today -- after all, she is almost 104 and tires easily. However, when the subject of Halloween came up a couple of weeks ago, she asked about how she was going to dress. As I've mentioned in a past post, Mom was always one to dress up if there was an occasion.

Anyhow, this year she costumed light -- in a splendid cow-bedecked sweat I found over at the Noah thrift for all of one buck! Complete with a working cowbell in front and a braided tail at the rear. As a finishing touch, big homemade spotted ears to take the place of her usual earrings.

The occasion: another Trick or Treat event at Las Fuentes for kids from the nearby Y after school program. Mom and her fellow residents really enjoy seeing the youngsters in their wildly varied costumes.

Later: there was a string of Halloween pumpkin lights, among other decorations at Casa Sanchez, where I had dinner this evening...

...a dazzle of lights at That House on Park which goes all out to decorate for as many holidays as possible...

...and big blow-up characters on the balcony of one of the nearby faux Victorians. And, yes, that looks like Itt up in the tower, more than a little deflated.

Of course, there are, these days, a handful of folk who take the night of Oct. 31 more seriously, as Samhain, the pagan harvest festival and official beginning of winter. I saw these decals on a recent walk around town (all on one car, BTW.) Ironically, a couple of local churches that view the Halloween celebration as a pagan holiday scheduled harvest festivals in its place.

However, for the rest of us, the night is a time to thumb one's nose at all manner of scary critters and creatures. It's only fitting that in Prescott, a Halloween witch wears blue jeans under her black cape. Perhaps she's thinking rodeo...

All Hallows' Link: A New England neighborhood explorer and photographer has discovered an interesting trick of the light that she calls Alien Eyes. I'd be curious whether anyone has seen these x-marks-the-spot reflections in our town.