Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween, all you night owls, who might still be up and at your computers (or iPads). Here’s the Halloween report from our house in Chicagoland, spanning the last several days.

This was the scene here on Saturday, as Charlotte tried on her costume and got into character, as wicked Queen Ravenna (from Snow White and the Huntsman), just a few days early.

—All dressed up, and some place to go, as it turns out! (You might remember Blackie’s “new friend” Mrs. Jones from a doodle or two back. Yes, he’s still been sneaking over there for meals whenever he can.)

After Saturday, it was a bit harder for us all to focus, and to get in a Halloween mood. Our eyes were mostly on CNN, and our thoughts with our friends and countrymen out East, who were anticipating, and then dealing with, that wicked storm Sandy. For so many of them, still flooded, still no power, it was unlikely to be any kind of Halloween at all. And it’s felt terrible not being able to provide any kind of hands-on support.

Although we did end up hosting one refugee from the storm, a very wind-blown witch, resulting in this doodle for Dad on the breakfast table the next morning.

Here are a few more Halloween-themed cartoons Dad found on the breakfast table this past week, just for the heck of it.

We sometimes have visitors in the back patio, despite the tall fence. (Which may have something to do with the raw peanuts and pieces of bread I throw out there on occasion). One night last week, the buffet had more takers than usual, including a very large raccoon, and a well-mannered skunk. This was Dad’s doodle the next morning. (Good thing that our mousemaid Giselle had gone candy-shopping early!)

As Halloween drew closer, there did end up being some debate and preparations regarding costumes—at least among the household cats and mice.

Charlotte tried on a few. The one at left got discarded for obvious reasons. (Despite Daisy Mouse’s reassurances, Charlotte knew it wasn’t her best look.)

Blackie on the other hand, hit on a perfect costume right away. He’s alway convinced—and trying to convince us—that he’s starving. Dressing as a skeleton was a smart choice, and served a dual purpose.

Charlotte had several costumes lined up in the end, for multiple forays into the neighborhood, including this one she borrowed from our New Jersey guest, shown in Dad’s cartoon from this morning. Dad gets up early, but not usually this early. (Guy Harry, by the way, is Dad’s own dad, famous for his pre-dawn departures, whenever an outing was planned.)

Here’s one more, showing Charlotte making the rounds later on in the day, this time in her fairy costume. (Kind of a private joke, I guess: Tom Gayer was an old friend of my dad’s who used to go adult trick-or-treating, door to door, with a shot glass. Charlotte is as fond of fresh ice water as he was of Scotch.)

As far as trick-or-treaters coming to our house went, we only got 3. We didn’t really expect more. But here we were at 4 PM, prepared and hopeful, just in case.

(Two final images, and then I’m going to post this thing, bring the witch in off the front stoop, have another Milky Way, and go to bed.)

This was my other submission from last month’s Blown Covers Contest, that I realized I hadn’t shared with you yet — which made Runner-up #1. And here’s a scribble of Aaron Mouse, working on his Blown Covers entry (which, as usual, mysteriously never got submitted). Hope you like. (Charlotte didn’t.)

However you spent it, and wherever you were, I hope your Halloween was a good one. Even if you were out East and did not have power, or were dealing with Sandy’s intrusion in other ways, I hope the day still found you safe, warm, and surrounded by friends. All the best, and Happy Halloween!