Monday, October 14, 2013

Halloween Fixings and the Death of Twinkies


The only way Oliver and I could entice Henry away from the television yesterday afternoon was by appealing to his manly strength.

Only you can drive these stakes into the ground, Henry! we both said.

He obliged.


There was some good-natured banter between them that I was tempted to record as it's so rare these days. There was also the usual bickering.



I took a couple campy shots of Oliver, pretending to be dead in the graveyard. With a black and white filter, they were almost too creepy. The two of us went to Spirit, the grotesque all-things-Halloween store that pops up in our neighborhood once a year. We bought some more spider webs and walked around creeping each other out. There were horrible zombies and spiders that jumped out at you. There were nasty, nasty costumes and entirely inappropriate sexy Halloween costumes. The guy who was stocking the store was creepy, too, and I wondered whether they did background checks on the workers and then wondered why I would think that anyway unless it was true (a psychic hit?). There's so much shit in a Halloween store and so much shit makes me so weary in that bone weary way. Doom.

I sort of hate Halloween, but I cheerfully oblige my children's love of it.


So, Halloween is up chez House of Crazy. I've been for a walk already today and done a lot of housework and paperwork. An old friend sent me a grainy photo of a large group of girls -- a sorority photo -- from our days at UNC. She asked me who the girl to the right of her was, and the name came to me in one instant. I am finding this recall very weird today. Why is it that I can't remember the name of the book I'm reading but was able to look for one moment at this girl's face -- from nearly thirty years ago -- and know it? What the hell is that all about? These are the questions that creep out and try a woman's soul.

8 comments:

  1. Go find that Oxford American and read the piece about the fireworks tents that pop up in June and July.
    Creepy. Yes.

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  2. I think Oliver may have a future as an actor in scary films. That shot is entirely too death like.

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  3. The last shot is priceless esp given the fact that Oliver is wearing the Twinkie shirt which is awesomness by the way.
    xoxoxox

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  4. You are such an amazing mom!

    And I, too, am astonished at the way the memory works and doesn't work. Today I sang all the lyrics to a song I hadn't heard since I was a kid. And I regularly forget the names of colleagues I interact with regularly. Stuff from long ago must get stored in a special place.

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  5. Like Radish King, I find a lot of humor in Oliver's "Twinkies" shirt! Maybe he died from eating Twinkies? We pretty much ignore Halloween around here, though I did decide to read Bram Stoker's "Dracula" in celebration.

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  6. my boys are too old for the Italian Halloween (phew!), and I've brought up my girl in total Halloween oblivion (yes!). unfortunately, she heard about it this year, and asked to "do it" ... I wish we were neighbors, and I could just send her over to yours!

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  7. Halloween is creepy for sure ... My girls still get spooked by the spiders and the creepy phantom costumes. I think they still secretly like to dress as princesses :)

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  8. You have a funny ad below your comment box for a sexy pizza costume

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