A most wonderful time of the year

There are lots of good times in a year, and Halloween is definitely one of the more wonderful ones. At age twenty, I first met my friend Mike on the start line of his first expert/open race, although it would take a few more meetings to realize he was a friend and not merely a vexing person (which he was, but it became one of his charms). Mike loved Halloween. This surprised the newly adult me, but then he, with his 10+ years more life experience, explained it was the day of the year when acting more than a little goofy was ordained OK, even encouraged.

I like this yard silliness much more

than inflatable Santas.

I get that, and a few years later, I was invited to a Halloween party hosted by his then girlfriend, and my now good friend, Mar. Mar doesn't throw just a generic costume party, she specifies a theme, and that year it was "kings and queens", which was really a ploy to pull out her amazing Elvis get up. There were also prizes awarded for best costume, but I was in the midst of packing my house to move, so supplies were limited. I did, however, have lots of boxes, so I improvised a "wooden" barrel to attend as the emperor from The Emperor's New Clothes, after the child called him out. And yes, under my "barrel", the costume was authentic. And yes, apparently the common dare amungst other guests was to confirm it's authenticity. And yes, I did win first prize, $5 Canadian!

No picture from that party,

but sticking to the cardboard theme,

I created Box Box a later year.

Yes, the hat is bubble wrap, of course!

This world could deal with a bit more fun silliness. Who knows, it might even cut down on the too often morbid silliness of the human species. Yesterday, I took my first ride on my enormous new medium mountain bike with a trip to the library and then a lap around the outer loop trail of Dufresne Park. I usually prefer woods to be just woods, but the new decorations did make me smile. Happy Halloween, go eat something pumpkin!