Photos: Suzanne and John’s Mom. A playful resident at our retirement place decorated the woods with little ghosts.
Do you like Halloween? I know some people don’t: they turn out their lights, lock up, and go away for the night. But I have always liked Halloween. I looked forward to it when I was a kid and was planning my costume for weeks, and also as a grownup handing out treats to trick-or-treaters. I especially love seeing the excited little ones in their costumes.
For some years, John has been master of ceremonies for the cutest little costume fashion show in the park near his house, and it’s all about the youngest children.
Neighbors everywhere stock up on goodies and hope for a day that’s not too cold or wet. Even come folks in my retirement place put on wigs and costumes, but for me, it’s only Halloween if there are little kids around. My Jack-o-lantern tried its best, but its flashing light didn’t show up in our bright hallway.
The New England Nomad, a blogger who takes lots of great photos, said I could reblog this post about Salem, Massachusetts. Salem, as I’m sure you know, was the site of a horrendous crime committed against innocent women perceived as different — the witch trials of 1692 to 1693. Not neglecting that dark history, Salem has also managed to turn its memories into a commercial and playful Halloween success. (We are a strange species.) Check out the fans who put on costumes and joined in the annual Haunted Happenings Grand Parade in Salem.
Photo: Tualatin, Oregon. The day of the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta is a great day in Tualatin, Oregon.
Although Halloween is the “hallowed” evening that comes before All Saints Day, I don’t think it has ever been as serious as that sounds. Human spirits were said to come out of graves and dance around, maybe do a little mischief. And living humans picked up on that playful aspect of the day.
In my part of the world, a holiday focused on fun fits in with harvest season, and ghosts get merged with pumpkins.
Talk about fun! In Providence you can walk around the lake at Roger Williams Park and enjoy hundreds of amazingly carved pumpkins on every imaginable theme. In Louisville, Kentucky, Meredith’s daughter, Alene Day, works on a similar event and is a genius at the art of pumpkin carving. (Click here.)
A festival called Pumpkins and Pints takes place in Tualatin, Oregon. From the town’s website: “Since 2004 people from around the country have gathered to watch costumed characters paddle giant pumpkin boats in a series of races. This fun-filled weekend [features] a giant pumpkin weigh-off, the 5K Regatta Run/Walk, and Pumpkin Regatta festival and pumpkin races. The giant pumpkins are supplied by our friends from the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers.”
“We grow ’em big!” PGVG says. “The Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers (PGVG) is an association of gardeners focused on the fun-filled, competitive hobby of growing obscenely large vegetables. While Atlantic Giant pumpkins and squash are often the show-stoppers, we grow and recognize all fruits and vegetables on the international competition list defined by the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth. …
“As a community organization, we hope to encourage individuals and families to enjoy gardening together. We strive to treat all of our members equally and fairly, and are always looking for ways to improve our organization for the benefit of our members. Above all, we want the hobby of gardening and growing giant vegetables to be fulfilling, rewarding, and fun.”
Travel Portland also emphasizes fun: “Just when you think you’ve seen everything, you realize you’ve been missing the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta. Since 2004, this cherished local event returns to the Tualatin Commons every October with a series of races. The races are exactly what they sound like: costumed competitors piloting a gaggle of gigantic gourds through a watercourse on Tualatin Commons Lake. The regatta kicks off the day before the races with a pumpkin weigh-off at the Pumpkins and Pints event at Stickmen Brewing. The following day consists of a full day of pumpkin paddlers plying the shallow lake in giant pumpkin boats.”
What can I say? I was already speechless at “Great Pumpkin Commonwealth.”
Photo: Travel Portland. Paddling a giant pumpkin takes perseverance.
Photo: Suzanne and John’s Mom. Houses in Rhode Island compete for the honors as scariest.
Are you ready for Halloween? Knowing how much Halloween means to children, I wonder if it can still be fun in a retirement community. It’s probably not enough to put on a witch’s hat and call a Reuben a “tongue & cheek sandwich.”
But adults are mostly old children, after all, so here are a few that jump into Halloween with both feet.
There are paddle-boarding witches in Oregon. Portland Living on the Cheap, here, writes about “a convoy of witches on stand-up paddle boards gliding along the Willamette River against the backdrop of Portland’s skyline. …
“If you love paddle boarding and want to join in on the bewitching fun,” adds On the Cheap, “dust off your witch or warlock costume and fly to Willamette Park. Participating is free. … Organizers do ask that all participants are experienced paddled boarders, wear a [personal flotation device] and leash, and have a whistle and waterway permit.”
Not to be outdone, New York City has a Halloween dog parade for all ages. Elaine Velie at Hyperallergic, here, says, “Each year, thousands of New York City dog lovers gather at Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan’s East Village for the Halloween Dog Parade. Proud paw-rents and non-pet owners alike line up to admire the creativity of their fellow New Yorkers and see some of the cutest pups in all five boroughs.
“The 33rd edition of the beloved event was briefly postponed earlier this year after planning it proved a bureaucratic nightmare of never-ending permits and exorbitant fees.
“Thankfully, the parade was saved after City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera brought the issue to the mayor’s office, which reduced the permit fees, and dog food company Get Joy agreed to sponsor it. The festival returned to ‘by far the biggest’ crowd in history, according to Tompkins Square Dog Run ‘head pooper scooper’ Joseph Borduin, who fields press emails.
“This was the first time the parade took place on the street, and around 600 pawed participants strolled down Avenue B for a few blocks before turning into the park.” Check out some delightful pictures at Hyperallergic. No firewall.
Also at Hyperallergic, here, there’s a story from England, where a giant pumpkin mosaic has set a world record. That is to say, it’s a mosaic made with pumpkins (and other gourds), not a mosaic of a pumpkin.
Maya Pontone reports, “A new Guinness World Record for the largest mosaic made of gourds was set last Wednesday, October 18, by a family-run farm in the British city of Southhampton. In a massive horticultural display honoring Tim Burton’s 1993 film The Nightmare Before Christmas, the record-squashing artwork features over 10,000 multicolored pumpkins and gourds laid across more than 2,000 square feet.”
I’d love to hear about pumpkin and Halloween nuttiness involving adults that you know, or know about.
First photo below: Suzanne and John’s Mom. Second photo: Elaine Velie, Hyperallergic. Third photo: Guinness World Records.
For the first time in years, I’m at home for Halloween. I’ve been alternating between Suzanne and John’s homes, which has been a lot of fun. Besides, all the children in my neighborhood grew up and moved away, so there have been no trick-or-treaters on my street for a long time.
Now some young families have moved in. I want to see the little ones in their costumes — and avoid driving on such a night. I’ll let you know if I get any takers for the candy, Goldfish cracker bags, or juice boxes.
Meanwhile, I want to share a few photos of the season and hope you like some even if you don’t like Halloween.
I’m starting with the Honk Parade in Somerville. It is on the Columbus/ Indigenous People’s Weekend every non-Covid year.
The band playing at a local church’s fall festival is the wonderful bluegrass group Southern Rail. I can’t resist putting one of their videos at the end of this post.
The boaters are enjoying the Sudbury River in Massachusetts. The meditative bench is on the Seekonk River in Rhode Island.
I love the idea of six-word novels. The creative woman on Sudbury Road had numerous “novels” on pumpkins this year.
Across the street from her yard, the public library featured children’s story books. I’m sure you recognize Curious George.
Don’t know who the banjo players are, given they lack any features, but one seems to be a Union soldier.
There were quite a lot of opportunities for photos on sunny October days this year, and I’m not even counting funny pictures from Halloween in Providence, where one grandchild was Harry Potter, another was Princess Aurora, Suzanne was the Fairy Godmother from Disney’s Cinderella, and Erik had turned into a vampire after getting vaccinated (as some would have you believe).
I didn’t get to see my young Captain Marvel and her scary brother the Mummy in person. Fortunately, their mom sent a dramatic action shot.
I do try to be a bit restrained with family photos on social media, so today I will show you other shots I’ve collected. The photo above is of a kind of mandala that a Providence resident is in the process of creating near Blackstone Park. She encourages passersby to add something. I added more red leaves.
On the library lawn back home, I got to see Dr. Seuss’s famous Thing One and Thing Two and Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar. There was also a “walking” book, consisting of signs showing page spreads. The current choice is The Water Protectors, by Carole Lindstrom and Michaela Goade (illustrator).
My husband had been reading about Ralph Waldo Emerson — particularly about the influence that Quaker thinker George Fox had on him — and so decided it was high time to visit Emerson’s house. Among other things we learned was the fact that in the early 1800s, people didn’t know that tuberculosis was contagious. Emerson’s first wife died of it at age 18. Also, the original Emerson family still owns the home. It’s a rather dark and gloomy place, though. I preferred the recently restored barn and took a picture there.
Moving right along, I have art for you from the Umbrella. The two pieces of door art are “Pop Art on the Trail,” by Howie Green, and “Remember the Future,” by Amy Cramer.
Then there’s the art center’s fabulous annual Art Ramble in the Hapgood Wright Town Forest, which I generally hold off on visiting until the first frost kills off the mosquitoes that breed in Fairyland Pond.
The Shibori hanging series, “Windblown,” is by Kiyomi Yatsuhashi. The beautiful Luna Moth Life Cycle is by Jude Griffin. The lungs of the forest are depicted by Barbara Ayala Rugg Diehl (BARD) in a work called “In and Out.”
The next photo shows Lisa Nelson’s “Waves of the Aerial Sea.” And last but not least is a huge dragonfly, or “Ethereal Dreamer,” by Laurie Bogdan and Kimberley Harding.
Huge selection of pumpkins and gourds at Wilson Farm, Lexington, Massachusetts.
Most people regard Halloween as simple fun — a moment to indulge in humanity’s playful side. That’s especially true for the very young, if not for the gruesome-looking teens or mischief makers. I always love seeing the littlest ones in their Spider-Man, Snow White, or witch costumes,
But even the creepy stuff is sometimes fun. I went trick-or-treating with John when he was 10, and we loved being startled by what we thought was a bundle of old clothes on the Dallas family’s front steps when it suddenly started moaning.
Back at the house, I would usually put on Halloween-ish records and turn up the volume: “Night on Bald Mountain,” “The Ride of the Valkyries,” a pre-Cats version of TS Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (narrated in a spooky voice by Robert Donat), and the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross song below, “Halloween Spooks.” Not sure anyone else listened to that background music, but it always got me in the mood.
Nowadays, we alternate between John’s neighborhood Halloween and Suzanne’s. Since we went to his in 2019 and did nothing in the pandemic, we will be with our younger grandson and granddaughter today.
Enjoy a few pre-Halloween photos from around these parts.
There’s a blogger I enjoy reading although his posts are often sad. He is Bereaved Single Dad. Subtitle: “A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his partner and becoming a single parent.”
He lives in an isolated English village where his main goal is to make a happy life for his son, whom he describes as being on the autism spectrum. It’s a challenge partly because there is a lack of empathy at the local school and very few special needs services. The other issue is that Bereaved really doesn’t do anything to take care of himself, which to my way of thinking is bound to affect his son’s happiness.
But the two of them do seem to have some wonderful times together, and lately I’ve been enjoying a series of posts on their plans for a fun Halloween. Here is the post called “Halloween 3.”
“This Halloween has to make our son happy. Failure is not an option. Best way to achieve that simple goal was to let him choose what spooky activities we will fill our time with. At the start of the week he came up with his list. …
” * Halloween Costume. Dad I think we should try and go for a Freddie look. We don’t buy a costume, we see what we can rustle up. …
” * Watching as many Scooby Doo DVDs as we can find. Finish off with his three favourites. Boo Brothers, Kiss and Witches Ghost.
” *Watch a Hammer Horror movie. These are atmospheric but relatively tame these days.
” * Have a Lego building competition. This year it’s who can make the best haunted castle.
” * Make a spooky music playlist.
” * Make up a Halloween story. Dad, this year I think it’s a couple of kids stuck in a scary computer game. …
” * Any TV has to be spooky-related like Ghostbusters.
” * Monster knockout competition to decide the greatest ever horror character.
” * Apple Bobbing
” * Late night reading in the garden of Hound of the Baskervilles.
” * All dog walks have to be after dark.
” * Build a garden monster out of what we can find lying around. Then leave it for nature (or the dog) to dispose. …
” * Eat the cookie/biscuit game. Put a cookie on your forehead and then without using your hands try to somehow get the cookie into your mouth and it’s the first person to eat the cookie wins.
” * Jelly Bean roulette. We have stocked up on some new flavours. Cat food, Snail, Earthworm, Earwax, Squid.
” * Make Pumpkin Chilli Soup. Even I can manage that.”
Is that a ghost emerging from the earth beneath the sidewalk or a piece of sycamore bark? Is that the Grim Reaper scratching around inside the wall of your bedroom or a squirrel? Is that a witch tapping at the kitchen window or a tree branch?
Is that an invading army at the border with tanks and surface-to-air missiles or ragtag neighbors praying for compassion?
It’s OK on Halloween to imagine dangers that don’t exist, but how about on the next day, All Saints Day, we go back to being logical.
We join John’s family or Suzanne’s family for Halloween on alternate years. This year, we were scheduled to hang out in John’s neighborhood, where a park at the end of the street bubbles over with festivity and John serves as the master of ceremonies for the costume fashion show.
Leading up to that event, I took pictures of the fun ways Halloween lovers decorated this year — noting, for example, the proliferation of giant spiders on houses and some upside-down zombies in an otherwise innocent-looking yard.
Suzanne’s family cut Jack O’Lantern designs using templates from the Internet. I’m posting the cute owl, but they also carved a crocodile, an octopus, and a cat.
My husband and I alternate between our two sets of grandchildren on Halloween. Last year we got a kick out of seeing John perform the role of MC for the costume fashion show at the park on his street. Although we won’t be there this year, I’m glad I got to see my oldest grandson in this year’s Yoda costume and his sister as a mermaid. Her puzzlement about the way the bottom of her costume was cut led to explanations of mermaid anatomy and collaboration on mermaid drawings.
This year we join the Providence grandkids (one gentleman fire chief, one lady construction worker) for the gathering at Brown Street Park and the annual parade through blocked-off Providence streets.
Brown Street Park has many Friends (changed to “Fiends” for the holiday). It’s in an upscale neighborhood near the university and flourishes because of people who both care about it and know how to raise money. If only all Providence neighborhoods were like that (which I say because behind one place where I volunteer, there’s a filthy campsite where drugs are sold. I am told the city cleaned it up once, but the vacant lot reverted to its current sorry state. How I wish the city would try again and neighbors would feel that they could go in and plant a garden or something!) But I digress.
If you go to the Friends of Brown Street Park website, here, you will find a well-organized group of volunteers soliciting help from other potential volunteers for initiatives such as the Hallloween party and parade, the summer concert series and the Earth Day clean-up.
In poor communities, good things can happen, too, but no outsider can come in and decree what those good things should be. First come efforts to build trust among all neighbors, as suggested here, then come deliberations about what neighbors actually want. I am going to look into getting the city to deal with that no-longer-vacant lot. It’s so disturbing for children who attend nearby activities. All neighborhoods should be safe for children.
There’s something mysterious about this time of year that brings out more than nostalgia. Halloween’s naughtiness license (to do mischief like moving the neighbors’ swing set from their backyard and putting it in the middle of the driveway) is really a creativity license.
I always looked forward to making the funniest Jack o’ Lantern, or the scariest. And wearing a pink taffeta princess dress (which unfortunately was not visible under all my outer layers on cold Halloweens). And parties (did anyone ever actually catch an apple by bobbing for apples?).
One year at school, the big kids made a Tunnel of Horrors for the younger ones. I was new to that school, and holding on to others as I stumbled up and down stairs in the dark, I had no idea where I was. It was spooky in a fun way — scary faces lit from below by flashlights, ghostlike figures brushing by, skeletons dropping down, haunted wailing, sudden swaths of spider webs … and a witchy voice croaking, “Come closer, Dearie, put your hand in the bowl of eyeballs” (meticulously peeled grapes in water)!
Imagine the creative brainstorming sessions that went into choosing gags that could be pulled off in darkness without breaking anyone’s bones! I was in rapture. I went home that weekend and created a mini version of a Tunnel of Horrors for my younger siblings.
Usually when I ask adults, “What are you going to be for Halloween?” they laugh, and really I am just joking.
But when I posed that question to a co-worker yesterday, he said, “A cereal killer.” He told me with some enthusiasm that he was going to paste the front panel of a cereal box on a red-splattered T-shirt.
I had to laugh. “Well, good for you, Nick!” I forgot to ask what killer cereal he was going to use. Probably one loaded with sugar.
Although I don’t have a picture of my colleague the Cereal Killer, I can show you a zombie in John’s yard, decorated pumpkins on his steps, an upside-down bat carving at the the restaurant Trade, and a stormy sky that a witch just passed through. (You’ll have to take my word for that.)
In my part of New England, Daylight Savings is drawing to a close with cold, wet, dark presentiments of the season to come. Seems like a good time to think about the fun we had in October.
Artist Don Eyles floated a pyramid in Fort Point Channel until a storm blew up. Suzanne, my husband, and our middle grandchild visited the sheep and other animals at the Audubon Society’s Drumlin Farm.
At work, we had a pumpkin-decorating contest. My team did Miss Piggy, porcine Muppet diva, to use the Wall Street Journal identifier. (Left to right, Elvis, the Monopoly Man, Miss Piggy, Edgar Allan Poe, Chia Pet, and Gonzo.) A Halloween band marched surrounded by babies, kids, and adults in costume all around blocked-off Providence thoroughfares near the Brown Street Park.
More quietly, chrysanthemums soaked up sunshine.
Here is a bit of background on the pyramid, in case you are interested.
“In 1998 Fort Point artist Don Eyles floated his first pyramid in Fort Point Channel, marking the water as a venue for art and opening the doors to years of temporary art installations to come. The installation was a bold move, made independently, and completely self-funded.”
“ ‘Consider the history that has passed along the cobbled streets of Boston — all the men and women, famous or unremembered, who have walked and rode here … always with granite cobblestones beneath their feet and wheels. I have long dreamed of making this history tangible, by constructing a great pyramid from the cobblestones uprooted by the City’s recent development.’ ”
More on the Pyramid and other Fort Point projects at tumblr, here.
Back in the days when we had more trick-or-treaters coming to our door, I used to play a series of Halloween-ish records nice and loud, like “Night on Bald Mountain,” the original “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” (with Robert Donat), and jazz trio Lambert Hendricks & Ross singing “Halloween spooks outside my window/Halloween spooks behind the tree./I wish that the children could see,/But I can’t find them for the life of me,/And there’re Halloween Spooks outside my window pane/Whoooo.”
Nowadays, families take their kids to housing developments where lots of children live. Last year no one knocked on our door. Fortunately, we’ve been able to join John’s two Halloween spooks at their neighborhood park’s festivities near Boston. And this year we’re hanging out with our middle grandchild, a Pirate, in Providence.
Here are a couple local photos that have been getting me in the mood.
Photo: 
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 