Fall decorating while waiting for bewitching hour
Last year, October fled by so quickly that I didn’t even have a chance to decorate the house for Halloween.
All the lighted pumpkins and scary-faced witches picked up for pennies at summer yard sales remained in boxes in the attic.
This year, however, I tramped up to the third floor attic and hauled down a couple of heavy plastic bins in two separate trips. Filled to the brim, they were heavy suckers to bring down.
I went backwards, one step at a time, hanging on to the railing for dear life, with my right hand, and sliding each heavy bin down step by step with my left hand. It was a pretty precarious procedure, but worth it to get the house all decorated.
The thought of hiring a middle school kid to help me bring stuff down from the attic next year ran through my mind.
There are three lighted pumpkins on the front porch. They joined four scarecrow “kids,” a witch wall-hanging, a mini-scarecrow sitting on a windowsill, a faux leaf wreath on the front door and a huge fall bouquet-in-a-basket sitting on an old, carved wooden chair.
In addition, two gorgeous chrysanthemums stand on either side of the porch columns, along with two small “real” pumpkins.
Minimalist décor is just not me at all. Who said compulsive? Who said that?
Inside the house, there’s another lighted pumpkin on the hall table and his brother is on a tall stand in the living room.
In the kitchen, fall-themed cloths cover the table. When one gets dirty, it’s immediately replaced with another. Rotated fall- and Halloween-themed tablecloths are the way to go at this time of year.
There’s a skeleton head candelabra in the kitchen, too. His eyes are glowing, red globes, and the candles are scary-looking, flickering faux flames.
When my nieces’ two four-year-olds visited and saw the skeleton head candelabra, they didn’t like him one bit. One asked how to shut him off and then flicked the switch – end of old skeleton head with the glowing red eyes.
I have candy corn in a crystal dish on the counter. Thank God it’s one candy I don’t care for at all.
My husband and I, who are older than dirt, still act like crazy kids on Halloween. We love getting the house ready for trick-or-treaters. Most years we have scary music piped through the dining room window. I turn all the lights off inside the house.
As the trick or treaters start up our sidewalk, they are greeted by the howling of wolves and some scary screeching. After they ring the doorbell, I usually open the door an inch at a time and peer out wearing a shawl over my head or some other costume.
Some years, I’ve put lighted candles on the first three stairs of the front hallway staircase, making an eerie atmosphere inside the darkness when the little guests peer in.
Other years, I’ve worn just about every piece of jewelry I own and had a made up face with a huge black beauty mark, dressing as Madame Gypsy.
Witch Buelah has appeared at our house on Halloween, too, and her green face is quite a sight to behold.
I’ve seen parents on our front porch be just as scared as their kids but I usually try to end on a friendly note, wishing the trick-or-treaters a Happy “Halloweenie.”
Honestly, I think life is so short that one has to have some fun once in awhile, especially on a holiday like Halloween.
One drawback to seeing October skip ahead like a galloping horse is thinking about packing away all the décor into boxes and hauling it back up the stairs to the attic.
Oh Lordy, then it’ll be time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and the wild mechanical turkey who dances on the tabletops, not to mention the pilgrim statues and all the other tchotchkes that lie waiting to be unearthed from their attic slumber.
In the meantime, hope you are enjoying each day of fall and are getting ready at your house for your own rendition of a Happy “Halloweenie.”
Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero
on October 11, 2012. Filed under Columns,From the Heart,Opinion.
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