At any other time of year, someone who was wearing a pumpkin for a head would be wrapped up in a nice white shirt, strapped in, and taken to the loony bin. However, since the festivity and the smell of hot spiced cider will soon be in the air, it is somehow allowed. I would go as far as to say that it is applauded. One such pumpkin head is Jack. He is on a quest to find the very best Halloween adventures.
I don’t know if this qualifies as an adventure, but for the majority of grade school, my family lived in Wisconsin. We were looking forward to Halloween because we lived in a sprawling subdivision, placed smack dab in the middle of some cow farms and a little town. There seemed to be an infinite number of houses to collect goodies at. I spent the years of birth through the end of first grade in a big city, so was picturing the moon being out and my sweatshirt or jacket under my costume. It was a huge culture shock to discover that Halloween was during the day! I am not talking about an after school 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM Trick Or Treat. Halloween was moved to a Sunday, and from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the afternoon, at that. How could they do that? Well, they did, and everyone seemed to participate.
Some people were not home and they left baskets on the front porch and asked us to be honest and only take two each. Then there were the dads who handed out candy to the kids, and “ice cold brewskis” to our parents who were wandering around after us. One set of parents even had the grill going and were dishing out brats. I try to explain to people that life in Wisconsin wasn’t all about cheese, brats, and beer, and the next thing I know, I have yet another story that is just about that. I should get some sort of demerit for perpetuating the whole Wisconsinite stereotype.
This is my costume from way back when. Of course, I found a picture of a pumpkin and put it over my head because myself at that age would have never consented to being featured on any website. Yes, I still don’t know what shade of green that paint would have been considered.
I had trouble getting through some columns on porches. My friends, other third and second graders who were dressed “as themselves,” or went as hookers or punk rockers had the right idea about porch navigation-friendly attire.
You can Buy Halloween Costumes Online or in a Halloween Store Near You to go on your own Halloween Adventure and/or you can vote for me in Jack’s Quest to let the old pumpkin head know you found my story ever so mildly entertaining. It is so mild that you’ll need lots of cayenne pepper and sea salt, of course.
