Halloween

The squirrels in our neighborhood like to snack on pumpkins. That's the story with that picture.

Halloween in Binghamton was a sunny, sixty-degree day. In late October in upstate NY, that's pretty good. I was happy because I was able to finish washing my windows (yay). The kids were happy because they didn't have to wear a parka over their costumes. When I was a kid, every year my mom would suggest "Eskimo!" when I asked her what I should be for Halloween. Eskimo. A costume that needs no modification to be weather appropriate in this climate.

I was never an eskimo. This year, inspiration struck in my favorite of thrift stores, when I came across a blouse with the label Miss Rodeo America. It was blue and white, with lace and a leather lanyard. Perfect! I had boots, I scored a denim skirt and a hat at Salvation Army for about five bucks. It felt good to buy everything second hand-- it feels more authentic, somehow, than just going to a costume store and walking out with a bag of new stuff. And thrifting is always more fun than costume stores the day before Halloween.

Anyway. My original intent was Country Singer, but since my costume fell just a little far on the western side, I amended my image. Cowgirl. Yee haw, partner. Round 'em up. Howdy there, Buckaroo. Here are a couple shots from my husband's gig later that night. A couple very blurry shots, sorry about that.

Pirate babe, Cowgirl.

Genie, Chiquita, Cowgirl.

It was a fun time.

The other notable experience of the night was running out of candy for trick-or-treaters. I was a little hot under the collar for a minute, until I remembered my basement. I knew those sixty-five pounds of apples would come in handy! I hauled up a box of Galas and started passing them out, thinking oh, my house is getting egged for sure. But, no. Unbelieveably, most kids were excited. "Apples! Cool! I want to eat mine now!" These are American kids, greedy little sugar demons on Halloween? For awhile I had both apples and candy in the basket, and some kids took an apple even when faced with Three Musketeers. Mars Incorporated, take that. It was downright heartwarming.

I hope everyone had a sweet, safe Halloween.