UPDATE!

My humble apologies for the delay between posts - I am still recovering from the party and am finding it hard to focus on anything Halloween related at the moment. Our annual get-together is so big and takes so much planning, that when it's over it always feels like Halloween is over too. I am kind of feeling revitalized at the moment, however, because the local newspaper came out to do a story on us during the party, and the issue is in the racks today. And although they got our home address wrong (aaaaargh!) it was a very nice little piece and made it feel like all the hard work was worth it.

Speaking of hard work - it was almost all for nothing after this week. A huge storm blew through over the course of about three days, with winds at times gusting up to 60 miles per hour. I'm proud to say the majority of my tombstones held up remarkably well - I only had to chase down the Nick Drake stone which ended up in someone's yard about a block away - with only a handful being laid flat but still attached to their rebar posts. My metal gateway 'welcome' arch that is the centerpiece of my fence, however, did not fair so well. Succumbing to the wind, it ended up completely twisted and torn free, slumped over forlornly next to the nearest fence post. A metal peg used to anchor the arch into the ground was completely snapped in two.

With a little bit of elbow grease, my daughter and I braved the elements and put things back in order as best we could. Things are still slightly askew, but the weather is promising to be perfect for Halloween (sunny and 65 degrees with no rain, knock on wood...) so hopefully I can get out there and straighten things up a bit before the big night. In the meantime, most of the indoor decorations have been taken down and are in the process of being stored away. It's hard to believe that it's almost all over for another year...

P.S. The Hallowzing website has been updated! Check out this year's poem, invite, and new pics from the party! Also – a little something in the 'misc' section from a Halloween past. If you have the website bookmarked, you may need to refresh your browser to see the images.