It's kind of funny that I'm highly allergic to cats, and yet they are my favorite Halloween motif. Possibly because they are active and have movement but are not gross and constantly eating things or sucking the life out of people (compare to: Ghosts, Mummies, Zombies, etc.) Also possibly because they typically accompany my favorite inhabitant of the supernatural world: witches!
In fashion before any vampire/werewolf/fairy trend that currently graces the bookshelves and silver screen, stories about spells and magic always have that extra spooky and uncertain feeling to them, like anything could happen because it is so outside the realm of normal life...and physics.
Have I mentioned how much it saddens me that The Secret Circle got canceled after only one season? It's a television travesty. I'm sure they were just waiting for the right time to bring in the animal friends, and we missed so many adorable scenes with teenage witches and their feline BFFs! The CW really messed up an opportunity for ratings gold on that one. The Disney Channel had it right when they made Halloweentown into not one, not two, but three sequels for my childhood Halloween viewing pleasure! I tried to get Lily to watch them with me but I don't think they hold up so well when you're twenty-six years old.
But I digress.
Lily carved Neil Young (seen above), and it was a pretty incredible likeness. She needs to enter a celebrity look alike carving contest next year! Don't worry, I'll record it all for posterity of course. My cat is in the middle - you can recognize it because I apparently chose the largest pumpkin in existence. I forgot I would have to carry it to the carving site, but it worked out well, since the carving party took place at our friends' apartment a block away.
Everyone else came up with some pretty fun designs like the Frenchman (in front), Michigan logo, Pumpkin "Pi", and (not shown very well here) the Golden Gate Bridge. After much hemming and hawing about whether the pumpkins would be safe on their front porch, we decided to leave them there in their candlelit glory. I walked by on my way to a cafe a couple of days later and they are still intact! Well, compared to the alternative of being smashed on the ground by raucous teenagers, they're intact. I had to put a toothpick in mine to connect the cat's ear to its head, so he's probably not faring too well at this point.
They served their purpose well - a little Halloween spirit in the midst of everyday life! Did you carve pumpkins this year?
