Halloween is a little odd this year. 

The first thing I’ve noticed is that Halloween decorations aren’t as prevalent this time. Last year there were more of them. This is especially true in the Sugarland area. I have a theory about that: All the gated communities are bad for decorating. If you can only impress the people in your immediate area, you have less incentive to go all out. And Sugarland has been getting locked up tight.

I was running through there last night. There is one gated community where the fence ends at the sidewalk, but if you take two steps onto the grass there is nothing stopping you from continuing on. But that was only one of the sections. I tried to get it to another neighbourhood that had an open wilderness next to it, but I discovered that they have since added a fence blocking pedestrian access. I feel as a runner that fences are a bad thing; feels antisocial.

In any case, there weren’t many decorations of note in the neighbourhoods where I could run.

Now, in my current neighbourhood, there are no gates; anyone can come and go. Here there are houses that have gone all out. Giant skeletons abound; horrific figures that move slightly and make threatening comments; many inflatables. It’s actually quite cheery with all that I can see; makes the runs more interesting.

I took the family out trick-or-treating and I tried to be a good guide. From my runs, I knew where the biggest decorations were, so we just went around to see those. If we happened to get some candy along the way, so much the better. It is not like Belle is going to be able to eat any candy so I’m going to have to confiscate it for her own good.