I Got Nothin'

I'm afraid postings here are gonna be lean(er) for the next few weeks.  I am a Halloween nut, but I'm also a Christmas nut. What can I say?  They run neck and neck for my favorite holiday.

And I just can't blend the two. 


Unless I get something really cool under the tree--like my first Bucky skeleton!

Otherwise, see you folks in about a month.

Depressing

This weekend, it all gets packed away. Finally.

Of course, it has to come down first:

the black curtains throughout the house,  the creepy cloth, the (previously) bloody shower curtain,

the foam pumpkins,

the various and sundry items that have become so much a part of the decor, I almost don't see them anymore.

Most of it has been residing in various piles in the garage, waiting for a relatively warm, uncommitted offday to sort it out and pack it away.... somewhere. 

I seem to have acquired more than I thought.  For the first time, some of the garden/outdoor items are going into the crawl space.

Hmmm.  Maybe it'd be easier just to set things up down there next year.

Fame

A co-worker who knows a little of my love for Halloween was telling me about the Forest of Fear he and his wife went to the weekend during their first anniversary celebration the weekend before. They went through a corn maze, a 'Forest of Fear', and a Haunted hayride, and he told me of some of what they saw.

I pulled up PumpkinRot's site on the 'puter to show him some photos of his haunt, and look what I found: http://pumpkinrot.blogspot.com/2009/11/soup.html

At first I thought it was my site and wondered how I'd clicked wrong, and then realized what it was and I was very uncool.  I squealed.  Quasi-fame does that to me. 

In the words of Chris Baker on Hauntcast: I am not worthy.

Thanks, Rot! You made my night!

The Whys

Some photos of the yard and the best compliment (s) ever.

(You'll note the lack of rain in the pictures--I stole some advice off someone's blog [can't remember whose] and left everything set up til tonight. Then I relit everything and took pictures at my leisure. Good advice!)

I had some who wanted to walk around the yard and take photos of their children with some of the objects. Some folks told me they come by every year because this is their favorite house. I had some teens gathered round with flashlights--didn't even come to the door for candy--just looking at things. ( I always give them candy if they come to the door, no matter how old they are. They get a bigger loot if they made an effort to dress up, paint their faces, or even wear masks, but always something, because these kids will be our future Haunters.)

All the while, I'm feeling like a hypocrite, because there are so many of you who have wonderful hand-built props and amazing staging and I'm such an amateur.

But you know what made my night? A little boy, maybe 3 years old, in his little prisoner's outfit with a black and white striped shirt. Young enough that mom had to hold his hand to help him up the steps and hold his bag for him because he couldn't manage both.

When they got to the porch, she prompted him "Now, say 'Trick or Treat!'" Instead, he looked up at me and said "I wike your house."

I'll live off that for months.