Just around the corner.

Halloween mask. From last year. It is coming up quickly. My daughter loves Halloween. She loves the grotesque. The above mask is not her. It was at a Haunted Field here in Ohio. No, he is not on fire. The camera blurred the shot and I thought it made it look even more macabre.

I probably decorate just as much at Halloween as I do at Christmas. I am more in the mood in October because I love the outdoors that time of year. Fall colors, crisp air, orange pumpkins and yellow maple leaves. I just love the smell of maple leaves on the ground after a rain. I grew up in a big white house with two huge maple trees in the front yard. We never had grass in our front yard because of the maples. We tried. We always knew when the trick or treaters were coming because we could hear their little feet rustling through the dried maple leaves.

My daughter's favorite Halloween costume (or maybe it was mine) was when I dressed her up like a cat. She had a black body suit and I stayed up until 2 a.m. sewing black boa fur to the collar and sleeves. Believe me when I say I am no sewer. Not my cup of tea. We bought the mask, ears and tail and the face paint. I will look up the picture and post it when it begins to get closer to Halloween. One of our favorite movies was always Hocus Pocus. It is just a huge hit with the kids. I have never met a kid who didn't like it. It must be a cult favorite by now.

My daughter always liked the rubber rats, spiders and scream masks. She never liked the princess and fairy outfits. Nor, the witch ones. At one she was a pink princess, at two she was a valentine, at three she was Nala, at four she was a black cat, at five we repeated the black cat, at six she was the blue fairy, then at seven she was the scream phantom, at eight she was dracula, at nine she repeated dracula, at ten she was walking death, at eleven she was a hideous, grotesque monster, at twelve she scared the treaters who came to our house with her scream mask and we'll see what she is this year.

I will remember to get pictures of our patio decorated for the event this year. Maybe we will have a Halloween party. That sounds like fun.