Halloween Takes a Year Off

What happened this year? It's as if Halloween decided to spend the season leading up to its own day in the pumpkin patch. Merchandise was lackluster. Residential displays were minimal. Fall foliage was...non-existent.

Pushing forward anyway, I created my own decorations. Two rolls of postal paper, one-half dozen paper towel tubes and several tablespoons of wheat paste and water later I wound up with this guy:


Over the years, I've developed a partiality for skeletons when it comes to Halloween decorating. In previous years, I have employed the skeletal figure as a base for themed overlays such as pirates or ancient Egypt. My only explanation for this is, it's the one creepy element associated with the holiday that we carry around with us all year long.

Tonight, as a slow trickle of trick-or-treaters make their way up and down my block, the bony, little paper mache skeleton man stands sentry, hoping that next year's Halloween will regain some of its past luster.

If not, I'm taking Halloween back to it's roots by carving a few potatoes. [CORRECTION: turnips (traditional to Irish roots of the holiday according to wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween)]