The 12 Days of Halloween - Day I

Autumn in Utah, DGF
Halloween is, without question, my favorite holiday.

"Why is that?" you may ask.

Well, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I was raised in Alaska then later transplanted to the continental US. This radical change in geography made me suddenly aware of something that my two-season Alaskan homeland had denied me my whole life:

Autumn.

Yes, Autumn! That glorious season of beautiful leaves, pumpkin pies, sweaters, scary stories, apple cider, and the smells of harvest (news flash, Edward Pola and George Wyle: Christmas is NOT the most wonderful time of the year—AUTUMN is! You can take your commercialized Yule Tide and stuff it in a pumpkin)!

The introduction of Autumn into my childhood was as though Mother Nature herself had come to me and said: 
"Here, Seth, I really want you to enjoy this season. It has a wide variety of unique colors, tastes, and emotions. Most people get about 90 Autumns in their lives. You've missed about ten of those to make you more fully appreciate your remaining 80. Go, partake of the season. Drink some cider and eat some pumpkin pie. But be careful. If you eat too much pumpkin pie I don't know if you're going to live until you're 90."
(Naturally, she said all of this in a motherly, sweet, ethereal, earthy voice. Mother Nature is cool that way). And I heard and obeyed!

"Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
But now, almost twenty years later, I find myself even farther from my Alaskan homeland. It is a strange place, known to the locals as "Florida." Vastly different from the upper 48.

One of the differences (much to my chagrin) is the complete absence of Autumn. Whose decision was it to banish happiness from Florida?

To make up for the biggest mistake since Cain killed Abel, I've decided to invoke the spirit of Autumn by celebrating the Twelve Days of Halloween.

Unfortunately, there is no codified way of celebrating the Twelve Days of Halloween, so I will just have to make it up as I go along. Which I'm okay with doing, because I've been making up life ever since I was born.

SO! On the first day of Halloween, Sethie will eat candy corn and peanuts (put them together, its amazing!) and watch Coraline, a creepy awesome claymation movie based on the book by Neil Gaiman (a fantastic writer).

Which brings me to another point! A few years ago, Neil Gaiman started a fantastic Halloween tradition called "All Hallows Read." I strongly recommend it to everyone: