TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2024 - HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2024 - HALLOWEEN 1

I like the fun part of Halloween.  I am not a fan of goblins, zombies, and other monsters.  I can accept witches (especially fun witches).

Over the years, I have dressed up for Halloween as a professor (and many of the faculty members did, too, when I was at Dakota State).

I’ve been to Zorro (maybe my favorite).  While Zorro is fictional, he is a good guy.  Like Robin Hood, he takes from the rich and gives to the poor.  He outsmarted the establishment of old California.  He was an expert swordsman and could leap across ravines on Tornado. (And, every good hero of the old west had a horse with a name).

I bought a ketchup costume.  It was fun to dress up as Ketchup.  At Quinnipiac, the Food Service manager was Mustard, and another employee was a hot dog.  

I used paper mache over a large inflated balloon, a Giant Pumpkin. With my black Zorro cape, I was the “Great Pumpkin” from the Snoopy cartoon.  I reflected on that recently - I don’t take a newspaper, and there are few paper items, so paper mache is almost a lost activity.  I made a paste, used paper strips, and wound it around the balloon.

I’ve been a cowboy, a farmer, and other things.

Maybe the best (or worst) was Miss White, Dr. White’s spinster sister.  I got an oversized dress at Goodwell, high heels (ouch), and a cheap wig.  I won’t say that started me on my transition.  One colleague at Quinnipiac said I scared him. He had been at a different college and watched a male faculty member transition to being a female.  (At the time, I thought that was awful.)

I bought an actual Drindl dress two years ago (mainly for playing at Oktoberfest.  So, I’ve been Maria from the Sound of Music a few times.  

I bought a clown outfit at a thrift shop.

*****

For me, the goal is to brighten everybody's day by making them laugh.  At the nursing home, the seniors have little to laugh about - they are facing death.  Having an aide dress up can be silly and funny - and maybe make them forget their future.

Lately, I’ve been trying more to be funny and less serious overall. Sometimes, I think I am trying too hard to be light and humorous. I do get serious at this blog on occasion. I used to be more serious, but now I can be free and attempt to be funny.

I also think of Smokey Robinson and the Miracle's song “Tears of a Clown.”

Now, there's some sad things known to man

But ain't too much sadder than

The tears of a clown when there's no one around

I do have tears - but I believe in LOVE, JOY, PEACE, AND HAPPINESS.

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, October 29, 2024