Windy Halloween

I awoke to a morning that definitely felt like Halloween - cloudy, rainy, and killer humid. Kicked off Halloween with a couple of spooky stories and poems from the Harvest of Holidays anthology. "The Blue-Nosed Witch" is a scatterbrained young witch who is constantly late for her coven's flight. Hoping to change things for a big Halloween formation, she sets her clock back too far and ends up delighting trick-or-treaters with her bright blue nose. Another modern witch makes "The Water Nixie" appear, but she and her friends are disappointed. They were hoping for fairies.

Molly McEntyre is having her own Halloween problems in the last two chapters of her introductory book Meet Molly. World War II means many treats and fabric for fancy costumes are rationed...but it also means Molly and her best friends Susan and Linda can improvise hula dancer outfits from crepe paper. Molly's brother Ricky plays a mean trick and ruins their costumes and treats, and they decided to get revenge...but it doesn't taste so sweet when their mom catches them.

Ran the first Halloween special of the day while eating breakfast. The only new cartoon created for the early 60's Woody Woodpecker Show was Halloween-themed. After spending most of the episode blowing up balloons for his boss Walter Lanz, all Woody wants to do is join the party with other Lanz stars like Chilly Willy and Wally Walrus. They play tricks on him and won't let him in. He joins a ghostly Beatles-spoof band to get by them, but he can't walk through the walls like they can.

Moved onto Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special while making Cranberry Flummery and cleaning up afterwards. Bugs outsmarts Witch Hazel in this collection of bits and pieces of horror-themed shorts, while Porky deals with a fraidy-cat Sylvester and Daffy wonders why Witch Hazel sounds like Speedy Gonzoles.

Did a little writing after I finished. As the trees continue to throw back the others, Charles comes up with the idea of playing music to calm them. Richard tries to hold them off, only to be caught in their branches.

Headed out around 1. It remained cloudy, crazy-windy, and humid, but the rain was long-gone. It sure looks like Halloween in the neighborhood now. The leaves have finally started turning colors, in muted shades of gold, orange-red, and rust. Gardens overflow with marigolds, late roses, and mums. Quite a few family had seasonal ghost or monster inflatables, or at least pumpkin banners and orange lights on their porches. It felt very festive as I made my way to the Oaklyn Library.

Needless to say, on a holiday with lousy weather, they were dead quiet (pardon the pun) when I got in. The only person I saw was the librarian. I looked over DVDs and peeked at some of their Halloween picture books, but there wasn't much going on there. I was out in twenty minutes.

As I strolled down West Clinton, I noticed a crowd on the streets in front of the school. As I dashed over, I could see that it was the Oaklyn (Elementary) School's Halloween Parade. Teachers lead their charges down the sidewalk in front of the school, to the delight of many of their relatives and passer-by. It brought back fond memories of walking in similar parades when I went to Cape May Elementary in the mid-late 1980's.

After the kids were herded back into the school building, I turned around and went two blocks to Common Grounds Coffee House for lunch. I didn't know what I'd be having at Dad and Jodie's later and wanted something simple. There were a couple of people sitting at tables with their laptops, likely college students doing work before Halloween parties. I settled down with a spicy-sweet iced tea and tasty slice of bacon and corn quiche and enjoyed the quiet.

When I got in, I pulled out my bag of costume knick-nacks and started putting together my Little Red Riding Hood outfit. I have a red cape I picked up at a yard sale (I'm pretty sure it's actually a red wrap skirt intended for dancers, but it works as a cape), a vintage red and blue floral apron I found at Frugli Consignment, and a red ponytail holder with taffeta streamers and a small rose in the center. Pulled out the smaller flower-trimmed basket I use at Easter, lined it with fabric, and added my Beanie Baby wolf Howl along with a few other things I'd need for the night. Makeup was limited to a little light eye shadow, lots of blusher, and lip gloss.

Put on a couple of spooky Peanuts specials while I got ready. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has Linus waiting up in that sincere pumpkin patch for the big orange gift-giver he hopes will bring them treats. Against her better judgement, Sally joins him. Meanwhile, Charlie Brown is having trouble trick-or-treating, and Snoopy spends his Halloween fighting the Red Baron.

Having read a book on magic he took out of the library, Snoopy calls himself "The Great Houndini" and puts on a show in It's Magic, Charlie Brown. His tricks end with Charlie Brown being turned invisible...and Snoopy can't figure out how to turn him back. Chuck's upset about this at first, but then he realizes Lucy can't pull the football away if she can't see him...

Walked out to Dad and Jodie's around 3. Trick or treating was just barely starting when I arrived. Considering the weather - it even rained briefly during the three hours the kids were out - we had a pretty good group of trick-or-treaters. As one boy dressed as a skeleton said, he didn't mind the rain. It was perfect Halloween weather. Khai's buddy Chloe was Hermoine from the Harry Potter series (though she had a Ravenclaw tie instead of a Gryffendor one - she said she couldn't find Gryffendor), and her mom was a hippie. Ryan next-door was Marty McFly from Back to the Future, and his little sister Savannah was a lovely little devil in a fancy red dress. Their dad was a blue dragon (and was sweating in the costume). Finley was a cute pirate, and her best friend was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. I'm not sure what Khai was, other than "looking cool in a sleek black suit decorated with glow sticks," and he didn't seem to be too sure, either. Even Jessa came around with Midnight dressed as a bat with wings, and Dana and Jesse's dog Nala was Winnie the Pooh.

Jessa drove me home after a quick dinner of Italian hoagies outside and chatting with Dad and Jodie. She dropped me off at my apartment, where I grabbed a sweater, put away the Indiana Jones book I was reading between trick-or-treaters, and used the bathroom. Had time for one quick short. Mickey Mouse has to save Pluto from "The Mad Doctor," who intends to turn him into a mutant pup, but he may end up falling into the doctor's clutches as well.

I ended up leaving a bit early for Oaklyn's Halloween Parade. Good thing, too. I got a little lost and somehow ended up on what I suspect was Ridgeway, the next street over from the school. It was kind of spooky back there, with the cloudy night and the wind rattling against the houses and making eerie noises.

Everyone was just starting to gather for the parade when I finally arrived in front of the school. Considering the weather, I think there was a pretty decent turn-out, including Ryan, Savannah, and their dad. I loved the adorable Little Orphan Annie in her red and white dress! There were two Harley Quinns (one probably about 5, another around 8), Pennywise from It, the Joker, Colonel Sanders with a KFC bucket, an Optimus Prime with a cardboard costume that actually transformed, a girl ghost, the Riddler, the Joker, a Pikachu and a Charmander, two unicorns (one older in a huge fluffy tutu, one in a furrier costume), a fairy, a slice of pizza, a Killer Tomato, a giant inflatable tyrannosaurus, a mini Mr. Peanut in a full foam body costume, the cutest toddler witch, a mom ghoul, a fortune teller, at least three black cats, a vampire, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Batman, Elsa, a pre-teen pop princess, and an absolutely hilarious little boy dressed as Calvin and Hobbes (complete with him toting a Hobbes-like stuffed tiger).

This is the second year in a row that the parade managed to start on time. I joined Ryan, Savannah, and their dad as we walked in a ragged group down West Clinton, behind the fire trucks. I was surprised at the turn-out. Large crowds waved to us from Tonewood Brewery and Phillies Phatties on West Clinton Avenue. It was a lot of fun, despite the heavy winds that blew us along.

The judging started as soon as everyone made it into the fire house on the end of West Clinton. Ryan won I believe second place in his division. I got third. The mom ghoul deservedly won (her makeup was awesome), with the fortune teller coming in second. The five dollars will buy a decent lunch this weekend. Grabbed some candy with the crowd on the way out.

Put on Garfield's Halloween Adventure as I washed off the makeup and put the costume pieces, money, and candy away. Finley's not the only one who opted to trick-or-treat as a buccaneer this evening. Garfield and Odie are hoping their pirate costumes will land them some candy booty. Garfield tries to take a rowboat across the river for more candy, but he and Odie end up stranded on a deserted island with ghost pirates coming after their treasure!

Went into The Rocky Horror Picture Show after I got organized. You don't need to dress as your favorite character to enjoy this truly weird piece of cult cinema...but it sure helps enhance the experience, as I discuss in more detail at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) 

Finished the night with another Halloween game show episode on YouTube. I have fond memories of the late 80's-early 90's Family Feud with Ray Combs, which I always watched back-to-back with The Price Is Right, but I had no idea there was a syndicated version as well. Evidently, they did do a Halloween episode, with both families in costume...and if you didn't know it was filmed in 1989, it would become obvious the moment you saw Combs dressed as one of the world's least-likely versions of the Tim Burton Batman, with his son as Robin.

Family Feud - Halloween 1989

Oh, and it did finally rain heavily...around 10:30-11, when I was watching Password Plus on Buzzr and chatting with Lauren. We're so lucky it held off here. Lauren said it poured all day in Pittsfield, and all their Halloween activities had to be postponed until the weekend.

At any rate, I'm hoping you had a wonderful Halloween of your own, with all your own little princesses, ghouls, and Batmen!