Half a Can of Leftover Orange Hairspray

What on earth shall I do with half a can of leftover orange hairspray? And sparkly two-inch false eyelashes? And what about the glitter blood?

Yup, it's that time of year again. Adam decided to go to work in costume this morning, hoping he can win the contest at his office. They have with some pretty nice prizes. He's Burning the Candle at Both Ends. I wrapped his torso in wax paper and sprayed his hair orange. I used gold and red paint on his face and made a construction paper flame to attach at the bottom of his costume.

The reason we have eyelashes and blood is because while I was looking in the halloween make up section for red or orange face paint, the only package I could find was a make-up kit for "Flame Fatal." The glitter blood did make a nice outline accent.

I've gone back and forth with the whole idea of Halloween. When I was a kid, we grew pumpkins in our garden, so the holiday always started off a week or so early as we walked down the road with a wagon full of pumpkins to give away to our neighbors.

We always carved a pumpkin (or two or three) and set it on the front porch with a candle burning in it's mouth. We roasted pumpkin seeds and, until I felt like I was too mature, I used to go trick-or-treating.

But Halloween didn't seem as ghoulish as it does now. I don't remember anybody in our town decorating their yards in fake spiderwebs or coffins full of dismembered body parts. And this was before giant inflatable characters were sold at Wal-Mart.

I guess I simply miss Halloween being about fun and dressing up and candy. Maybe its just that I've grown up now and I see that fun isn't always just fun. People can take fun and make it rude or evil. Sometimes kids will smash jack-o-lanterns or egg houses. And, though it's not as common, there are cults that consider Halloween a high holy day, commemorating it with real blood and death. And those aren't things I want any part of.

The question is: Can I celebrate the fun of Halloween without aligning myself with the more sinister aspects? Just because others choose to celebrate evil on this day, does that take away my opportunity to celebrate good?

No, I've decided it doesn't. There is nothing inherently evil about dressing up in a costume and eating candy. And, while I may not think trick-or-treating is such a hot idea when I don't know most of our neighbors, we do have the option of attending a costume party or our church's fall festival.

We went to that this past Saturday and really enjoyed ourselves. Maybe we can get more into the games and activities when my little ladybug is older. Plus, she'll understand the costume thing more. And stop trying to chew on her antennae.

Besides, I miss the pumpkin seeds. Fresh roasted pumpkin seeds are so much better than the packaged ones, even the yummy ones they sell at Trader Joe's. And maybe one of these days I'll actually make a pumpkin pie starting with real pumpkin.

Hmmmm...Thanksgiving is coming up...