Monday, October 27, 2008

I Heart Halloween


Yes, it's my favorite holiday. It's not even a real holiday--there is still mail delivery and banking. But it does offer the dual pleasures of being creative and seeing how others are creative. This weekend was the Pleasantville Ragamuffin Parade, where all the kids and a few brave adults show off their Halloween finest, in a kind of dry run for Halloween. Each year I am inspired by the variety of costumes on display. And of course the homemade ones are my favorites. This year my daughter Olivia is part of a group costume. Since all the major Candyland characters (Queen Frostine, Gramma Nutt, Mr. Mint, etc.) had already been claimed, she was asked to be the game board. 

This thrilled me as I am a big fan of inanimate objects as Halloween costumes. In the past I have dressed as the Empire State Building, a #2 pencil, and a bottle of Elmer's glue. So for Olivia I painted an old choir robe from a rummage sale, and my wife made earrings and did hair and makeup. The colored path wraps around to the back and theoretically could be used for actual game play, although the order of squares is wildly inaccurate.

I think everyone likes Candyland because it is the first board game we all play. So like Crayola Crayons or Grover, it provokes a happy memory. Also, it is about candy. Come to think of it, that's why I like Halloween so much. Candy.