So, I do on occasion go to the store. Lately, it has been making me cry. Where has Halloween gone. At the beginning of September with the back to school stuff going on, I can understand the dearth of ghouls, goblins, witches and ghosts.

But really, retail folks this is end of September and even the candy aisle has been trimmed, tucked and reduced to one section. I do not understand such sacrilege, especially as there is an encroachment in the aisle over of *gasp* Christmas.

Seriously, I put up with Pilgrims and cornucopias, but that shall not have Christmas until December. I’m sure i can carve that in stone for some folks, if need be.

I want the fun and imagination of Halloween. I want the cartoon monsters on the covers of candy wrappers.

Because Halloween is the beginning of the best time of the year.

There’s food.

The weather stops popping up into triple digits.

I can dress any way I like without explanation.

I can bake again without sending my kitchen temp and electric bill sky high.

Soup can be served with bread.

Jackets can be washed to remove the dust of the last 9 months.

People with laugh and remember fun, and yes, some folks have fun having the pumpkin seeds scared out of them.

But it’s all good.

Until the lady at HoDe’s mentioned that she like the harvest stuff, but not the scary part. Did no one tell her she could pick her parts of Halloween. That she could have a Princess only party with tea and jam? Halloween like all holidays is what you make of it. Of course, she did have to walk by those life-sized ghouls near the exit in the dark, so maybe I can understand that a bit. But…that’s no reason to condemn the holiday. I don’t hate all mannequins just because they would stalk me when I opened or closed the stores at Penney’s and Sears. I just had a plan, in the event they came to life. But I digress.

Like all holidays Halloween seems to be marginalized by what retailers can profit on.

So I’m standing firm. And my Halloween decorations are staying from September 27th to November 15th.