Two years ago, when we were in England, I remember being absolutely dismayed when I walked into a store in August and saw them starting to lay out the Christmas decorations. September and October came and we were slowly being invaded by red and green and it was really creeping me out because it just seemed SO early to be getting ready for the holidays. I mentioned this at some point to my English friends and they reminded me that they don't really have any holidays between August and December. Thanksgiving is obviously an American (and Canadian, as we learned) thing. They celebrate Halloween in England, but I was told not to the degree that we Americans do. I'm not sure what element of American culture makes it across the pond that they think we make a big deal out of Halloween by comparison to them. Then...I saw folks in our neighborhood starting to decorate.
Whoever invented these inflatable yard decorations with the fans is probably rolling in the cash these days. Every morning when I catch the bus, I am greeted by the Black Pearl here. Not only is this a pretty large structure, it is so detailed as to almost tell a story of its own. It looks like someone either mutinied or is abandoning his shipmates in the little rowboat escaping to the side.
At night, when I walk home from a different bus stop, I pass the Headless Horseman, who has commandeered a vampire's stagecoach. These folks, I guess in an attempt to conserve energy, only inflate their display at night, thus making it more challenging to share the picture here with you.
There are also many yards with the more traditional skeletons, pumpkins and spider webs. You have to travel to Jersey to find a good pumpkin patch, so I'm not sure how far these gourds have traveled in the grand scheme. There was a 150lb pumpkin that made the news the other day. Some folks from the Bronx brought the pumpkin from their home upstate and put it on display in the "yard" for their brownstone. The pumpkin took up their entire yard - does that say more about the pumpkin or about the yard? Plus they had to put a sign on it to discourage people from knocking on it to ensure it was real.
Now, I have heard that Halloween decorations can scare kids. I've been pretty happy while walking around with Penny because she doesn't seem frightened at all by these things. She'll point to a skeleton and say, "Man? Hi!" She does keep trying to carry off other people's pumpkins. Thankfully, the folks in our neighborhood only purchase large pumpkins, so she has been unsuccessful as yet. I was caught a bit off guard by our little encounter with Frankenstein here, though. When we met him, she waved and then pulled me into the yard pointing to him, "Man. Hep." I tried to explain that he didn't need "help" because he was a toy. That didn't make sense to her, so she went over and patted him on his head and held his hand to console him while she pled his case to me. I tried telling her he wasn't really in the ground, pulling one of the hands free of the sod. "Hep! Hep!" I looked furtively around and pulled all the bits out of the yard, placing him face down in the grass. "No," and Penny turned him face up so he wouldn't get leaves in his mouth. She patted the grass to determine what body parts still needed to be freed from their grassy prison. She wouldn't leave and I was afraid that the paper chick would return and see us messing with someone else's yard. I inserted him back in place and Penny furrowed her brow, looking most distressed. "Hep?" I tried to explain that he was just playing, "See, he is smiling, he doesn't need help." No matter which way I tried to explain it, she was convinced that I was encouraging her to abandon a friend in need.
After ten minutes or so, I resorted to distraction. We'd been there relatively quiet for so long that some sparrows were starting to investigate seeds in the driveway. Nearby wildlife was no match for her concern for her buried friend. She refused to listen to my arguments ("la, la, la, I'm not listening...") and wrenched her hand free any time I tried to lead her away. Finally, after 20 minutes I HAD to end our little walk and go home. She writhed in my arms, begging to be allowed to help her friend. It was heart-breaking listening to her plead to help him. Usually a couple houses down she'll forget all about whatever had caught her attention. Not so this time. I'd try to put her down a block away and she'd dash right back to him - there were streets involved, so this was a scary venture. I ended up having to carry her wriggly protesting body for the whole two blocks home. When we finally arrived at the house, still sniffling a bit from the trauma, Mom asked "Didn't you have a doctor appointment?" Eek! It was 1pm and my appointment had been at 12:30!! Already traumatized, I left the wimpering Penny with Grandma to get some lunch and zipped off as quick as I could to the doctor. Thankfully, she has a kid close to Penny's age, I was just getting a flu shot and she actually appreciated this crazy story, so she was willing to give me my flu shot rather than charge me for being late. So...we don't go walking on this block any more and I'm a little wiser about decorations. They don't have to scare the kid in order to be traumatic! Dan keeps asking about going trick-or-treating, but I don't know that he'd get very far before she got totally involved in some kind of rescue mission. We'll see.
Whoever invented these inflatable yard decorations with the fans is probably rolling in the cash these days. Every morning when I catch the bus, I am greeted by the Black Pearl here. Not only is this a pretty large structure, it is so detailed as to almost tell a story of its own. It looks like someone either mutinied or is abandoning his shipmates in the little rowboat escaping to the side. 
At night, when I walk home from a different bus stop, I pass the Headless Horseman, who has commandeered a vampire's stagecoach. These folks, I guess in an attempt to conserve energy, only inflate their display at night, thus making it more challenging to share the picture here with you.
There are also many yards with the more traditional skeletons, pumpkins and spider webs. You have to travel to Jersey to find a good pumpkin patch, so I'm not sure how far these gourds have traveled in the grand scheme. There was a 150lb pumpkin that made the news the other day. Some folks from the Bronx brought the pumpkin from their home upstate and put it on display in the "yard" for their brownstone. The pumpkin took up their entire yard - does that say more about the pumpkin or about the yard? Plus they had to put a sign on it to discourage people from knocking on it to ensure it was real.
Now, I have heard that Halloween decorations can scare kids. I've been pretty happy while walking around with Penny because she doesn't seem frightened at all by these things. She'll point to a skeleton and say, "Man? Hi!" She does keep trying to carry off other people's pumpkins. Thankfully, the folks in our neighborhood only purchase large pumpkins, so she has been unsuccessful as yet. I was caught a bit off guard by our little encounter with Frankenstein here, though. When we met him, she waved and then pulled me into the yard pointing to him, "Man. Hep." I tried to explain that he didn't need "help" because he was a toy. That didn't make sense to her, so she went over and patted him on his head and held his hand to console him while she pled his case to me. I tried telling her he wasn't really in the ground, pulling one of the hands free of the sod. "Hep! Hep!" I looked furtively around and pulled all the bits out of the yard, placing him face down in the grass. "No," and Penny turned him face up so he wouldn't get leaves in his mouth. She patted the grass to determine what body parts still needed to be freed from their grassy prison. She wouldn't leave and I was afraid that the paper chick would return and see us messing with someone else's yard. I inserted him back in place and Penny furrowed her brow, looking most distressed. "Hep?" I tried to explain that he was just playing, "See, he is smiling, he doesn't need help." No matter which way I tried to explain it, she was convinced that I was encouraging her to abandon a friend in need.
After ten minutes or so, I resorted to distraction. We'd been there relatively quiet for so long that some sparrows were starting to investigate seeds in the driveway. Nearby wildlife was no match for her concern for her buried friend. She refused to listen to my arguments ("la, la, la, I'm not listening...") and wrenched her hand free any time I tried to lead her away. Finally, after 20 minutes I HAD to end our little walk and go home. She writhed in my arms, begging to be allowed to help her friend. It was heart-breaking listening to her plead to help him. Usually a couple houses down she'll forget all about whatever had caught her attention. Not so this time. I'd try to put her down a block away and she'd dash right back to him - there were streets involved, so this was a scary venture. I ended up having to carry her wriggly protesting body for the whole two blocks home. When we finally arrived at the house, still sniffling a bit from the trauma, Mom asked "Didn't you have a doctor appointment?" Eek! It was 1pm and my appointment had been at 12:30!! Already traumatized, I left the wimpering Penny with Grandma to get some lunch and zipped off as quick as I could to the doctor. Thankfully, she has a kid close to Penny's age, I was just getting a flu shot and she actually appreciated this crazy story, so she was willing to give me my flu shot rather than charge me for being late. So...we don't go walking on this block any more and I'm a little wiser about decorations. They don't have to scare the kid in order to be traumatic! Dan keeps asking about going trick-or-treating, but I don't know that he'd get very far before she got totally involved in some kind of rescue mission. We'll see.
3 comments:
LOL! A very entertaining story. I can't wait until Evie starts talking! (though most people tell me I will regret saying that one day...)
No, talking is fun. Right now I know she is telling me really important stuff, I just can't understand it. So we both get a little frustrated sometimes. I don't regret that she can tell me this important stuff, by any means.
LOL! oh man that's priceless... aren't you glad you took pictures to commemorate the madness? She sounds like so much fun!
They sorta glossed over halloween here too and already have everything out for Christmas. We hosted a haunted house up on base and over 500 people showed up. I think they love them some Halloween fun, but they need to be shown the way ;)
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