Christmas in October

Trick or Treat!  Halloween is only ONE WEEK AWAY!  If you haven’t already guessed it, I love Halloween.   Then again, I am a Halloween baby.  My birthday is the day before, so I have always felt a special connection to the fall holiday. I love the spirit, the costumes, and of course the candy.  But when did Halloween become the who-can-throw-the-most-technicolored-plastic-junk-in-your-front-yard contest?  I mean, really, people.  Look out your windows.  The wispy fake spider webs? Tacky.  The plastic spiders? Tacky.  In my opinion, you’ve got to go big or go home. The decoration that I used to get a kick out of was the witch that looks like she has flown into a tree.  But now I see them everywhere!  Too many witches have been texting while flying. 

On the other hand, there are SO many people who are going all out on their decorations!  It’s like everyone has to have a horror movie set in their front yard to be considered a civilized American.  The guy who lives down the street from me sets up a graveyard in front of his house every year.  Want to guess when he had it all set up by?  September.  That’s right, it has been there for a month.  Impressive, or obsessive?  You tell me. 

But we all know what Halloween is really about.  Well, besides the candy.  Costumes!  I get really into costumes, I always have.  And I was not always something generic.  When I was in second grade, I went as a geisha.  The costume came complete with Kimono, chopsticks in my hair, and white face makeup.  Thinking back on it, that is kind of an odd costume for a little kid, but I guess I was just unique.  My brother, however, used to steal the show every year.  He had the most obscure costumes.  My personal favorite was the underwater lobster fisherman costume.  He even had a net filled with fake lobsters.  He was four. 

This year, my friends and I were trying to find something good that we could go as in a group.  Our first idea was the Seven Deadly Sins, but I don’t think anyone wanted to be Gluttony.  Then, my friend Mira came up with Inconsequential Disney Characters.  I liked that one.  Can’t you picture the conversation?

“Cool costume, but…what are you?”

“Oh I’m so-and-so”

“Who?”

“You know, the soldier from Mulan?”

“No…”

“Oh, well, he’s a pretty inconsequential character.  No lines, or anything.”

But none of us could think of enough inconsequential characters.  Probably because they are inconsequential.  My idea was that we go as a box of crayons.  We could all buy crayon costumes, and then make a box that would fit all of us just so that we could be an enormous hassle anywhere we walked.  But we never ordered the costumes.  Or got around to making the box.  So I think that we are going to be Gym Teachers.  It’s just an excuse for me to wear tube socks. 

Now to the candy part.  Whoever came up with this system of walking around and getting free candy from people is a genius.  But where are you going to put all of those sweets while walking around?  A plastic pumpkin?  That’s been done.  A pillowcase? Hard to carry.  What’s easy to carry and large enough to fit enough candy to give you a mouth full of cavities?  That’s right.  A tote bag.  So when you are looking for the perfect trick-or-treating bag, in fall colors, you know where to find one.

-Emma