Halloween On Parade

I slept in this morning and didn't get to the library for volunteering until around noon. It was a lovely day for a ride, blue and gold, still cold and a little windy, but nothing like yesterday or the last few days. The library was stone-quiet, not surprising on a gorgeous day before a holiday. I did the children's DVDs and put the adult DVDs away. I stopped at Super Fresh for Total cereal, then took a peek at Dollar Tree and Halloween Adventure for a last bit of Halloween atmosphere. Super Fresh had, in fact, cleared out its Halloween section already. Dollar Tree's had Christmas items out since September, though it still had a fairly substantial Halloween section.

I browsed quickly through Halloween Adventure before heading home. This is the local "Halloween Costume Superstore" that pops up in empty storefronts across the country between September and early November. I was hoping to find a halo. I did, but even at half-off, I didn't have enough money for it. The problem with most adult women's Halloween costumes is they assume any woman over the age of 12 wants to wear as little as possible for Halloween. Not only is that impractical in cold weather (and with my figure), but I'm just not that way. Not every adult woman wants to trip around in brief skirts and mile-high heels.

I spent what was left of the afternoon at home, watching Strawberry Shortcake DVDs and Mad Monster Party?, the latter as I prepared for Oaklyn's Halloween Parade. I created a "flower fairy" costume with the wings and wand from the Angel costume I bought two years ago, the leis leftover from a hula dancer costume from about five years ago, the peach ruffled skirt and white embroidered shirt I bought last spring, my summer shoes, and stockings. I still had glitter body makeup leftover from the angel costume two years ago that I put on my face and hands.

As it turned out, I was the only adult who entered the parade in costume. The parade is a far less organized affair than the huge one in Cape May. I ran into Uncle Ken and Jessa as they were heading over to the Fire Hall on West Clinton Avenue where the parade began. Jessa wasn't dressed, but she'd been recruited to give out numbers to the kids. I helped her, too. No one registered. There were no floats or marching bands, just kids in costume and their parents and fire trucks.

The kids were terrific. There were superheroes, Optimus Prime and Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk and an Adam West-era Batman in plastic masks. There was a Wizard of Oz crew, an adorable toddler Dorothy and Cowardly Lion and their older Tin Woodsman and Glinda siblings. A family of boys were dressed as soldiers. An authentic cowboy rode around in a cute "chuck wagon" of cardboard and a Little Red Wagon. There was a third group dressed as Disney characters - I especially liked Donald Duck. There were two firemen, Elmo, a very enthusiastic and noisy female Mad Scientist, a girl football player, a hippie in a tie-dyed t-shirt and huge Afro (he looked like a little second-season Micky Dolenz), a mini Medieval maiden, a "dead" cheerleader, Jack Sparrow, a girl pirate, High School Musical dancers, a ghostly prom queen, and some very scary monsters in freaky dollar-store masks and well-dyed "rags."

The whole group (including Jessa and me) marched raggedly down West Clinton Avenue, from the Fire Hall to the Oaklyn Public (Elementary and Middle) School. Despite my cousin Blake's complaints, it was really only a few blocks and took less than ten minutes, nothing like the trek from the Gazebo behind the Washington Street Mall to the Physick Estate the Cape May Halloween Parade does. After everyone arrived at the School, we proceeded to the auditorium, where each age group (and me) paraded for the judges, Samantha, Dolores, and another mother. I met the rest of Samantha's family there. David and I took pictures of adorable Faith, dressed as a cute little Cinderella, and her brothers Matt (the modern, "Dark Knight" Batman) and Ethan (a ghost), while the kids walked around the stage for the judges. I joined the "12 and Up" group. I didn't win (Faith and her brothers did), but that wasn't really the point anyway. I just wanted to dress up for something and do something in costume besides stand around at work. The Cape May Halloween Parade was always the highlight of the Halloween season for me.

I did get something out of it, though. All the participants received a bag of candy and small items (a key clip, a small box of crayons, a pen) from Commerce Bank. There were a lot of bags leftover, so I ended up with three. Since I probably won't be getting candy tomorrow, the candy and little items are almost as good as the 5 dollars most of the kids won.

(Incidentally, I do intend to dress up for work tomorrow, at least in the leis, wand, wings, and makeup. I'm just going to wear my regular work pants and sneakers for the bottom half. Those white shoes and the skirt wouldn't be all that comfortable for work, and I certainly couldn't ride to work in them.)