Halloween

[Tonchi]

I used to decorate the inside of my house very elaborately for Halloween, using mostly the harvest themes that would carry over all the way until Thanksgiving. I'd put stuff in the windows, but never outside because too many kids nowdays are budding vandals and like to trash the work of more talented families. Last year, as usual, I had a centerpiece of gourds, Indian corn cobs, mini pumpkins and leaves, changed all the candles and candle rings to seasonal colors, put the electric jack-o-lantern in the greenhouse window and hung a new windsock with bats on it. I was especially proud of my new lifesize rooster from Michael's, made in China with real feathers, which sat in the middle of the centerpiece.

I got to enjoy the atmosphere for exactly one day. Barely asleep, I was startled by a tremendous crash and rushed out to find T'Pau, Queen of the Universe, dragging the rooster across the floor in the wreckage of the centerpiece. She had stalked and "killed" it and now was trying to figure out how to eat it! Since she was just 5 months old and had only been with me for a few weeks, I guess she thought her space was being invaded. Or maybe just the feline killer instinct. But it has put an end to my decorating impulses for now

Just in case, I didn't put up the fiber-optic rotating Christmas tree last year either.