Halloween with the People Inside

Hey Lily! Hey 9! Halloween is tomorrow!!

Yes, we are well aware of that.

I’m going to be a cat!

How about you, Lily?

Costumes are childish unless one is on the stage.

I see. I hope it’s not too much of a shock when, later in life, you decide otherwise. I’m going to be- -on second thought, I’ll tell you later.

No fair, I already said mine!

Patience is a virtue, 9, and virtue is its own reward.

Huh?

Moving right along, today we pursue the subject of Halloween in terms of outdoor decorations. Why? Because, as a friend pointed out, people in Walla Walla decorate as much for Halloween as they do for Christmas.

I’m sure that’s an exaggeration.

Perhaps a mild one. Here’s what I saw a couple of days ago on a walk around Pioneer Park:

Wow, it’s huge!

If they had something like this in Port Townsend when I was your age, 9, I certainly didn’t see it. Back then folks mostly decorated with jack-o-lanterns, carved from actual pumpkins.

And we roasted the seeds!

And ate them.

There are several huge skeletons around town. I like this one in particular because last year, instead of taking it down after Halloween, they added a Santa hat and left it up for Christmas.

Inflatable decorations are very popular these days, something else we didn’t have way back when.

I remember inflatable chairs, and inflatable pillows.

There was a lot of inflatable merchandise around at the time. Didn’t we have a huge inflatable 7-Up bottle?

Hardly my most sophisticated possession but I recall liking it at the time.

 I have two examples of inflatable Halloween decorations. This one stays on topic:

 

The other one is what I’d call mixed genre:

 

Spiderman!

Got it in one, 9. The TV cartoon debuted in 1967.

Walla Walla is also an artsy town. In addition to all the musicians, dancers, actors and writers who live here, there are also may visual artists. Original sculptures decorate Main Street, parks and campuses. Some people even have original sculptures in their yards. For example, a house one street over boasts a permanent display of abstract metal horses. For a touch of Halloween, note the riders:

 

Wow, little green skeletons!

All of these displays are in our neighborhood, which is not at all heavily decorated by Walla Walla standards. There are plenty of our old friends, the hand-carved jack-o-lanterns, too.

Are we going to hand out candy?

Definitely, if kids show up. Trick-or-Treating traffic is light in our neighborhood. Walla Walla’s downtown Trick-or-Treat is tonight, October 30, 3-5 PM. Lots of families, especially those with very young children, go to that and call it good.

You mentioned a costume?

I’m honored that you deign to ask, Lily. I debuted it yesterday on the pool deck at the YMCA. My swim pal (who shall go nameless since I didn’t ask permission to use her name) and I have been doing this for a few years to entertain the water aerobics class while we’re waiting for lap swim. The class let out a big Whoop when I turned up with just enough accessories to be a devil. My friend was going to be an angel, but like Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life” she didn’t have her wings. One of the women in water aerobics insisted she borrow a devil horns headband (they are very enthusiastic about holiday headbands in that class).

Pics or it didn’t happen.

Why Lily, you’ve been eavesdropping on 2026! No one got a picture of us at the pool, but I’ve since realized I could wear my costume over anything, not just a Speedo. Drum roll, please:

 

Come Saturday evening, I’m set!

Retail stores are already displaying copious amounts of Christmas merchandise. Before we descend into that madness, I hope you’ll take a moment to enjoy this earlier and much simpler holiday season: Halloween, Dios de Los Muertos, Britain’s Guy Fawkes Day. Wishing you safe and happy festivities!