It is October the 1st.  Halloween is coming.  We all know it.  How can we miss it.  Halloween decorations are everywhere.  Ghosts, goblins, decorated pumpkins and witches on brooms confront us in the homes of friends and neighbors.  Halloween decorations are for sale in retail stores and catalogues, right next to Christmas decorations–for a holiday almost three months away.  When did it happen?  I don’t know.  Why did it happen?  I don’t know that either.  Maybe it is a diversion from the economy, wars, and the political season.  Hard to guess.

Ambivalent as I am about this extended season of spooks and goblins, I decided it was timely to share this particularly wicked rendition of a clown. It isn’t necessarily related to Halloween, but it is an appropriate way to begin the month.

As though confused by the seasons, he is decorated with lights.  Ho, ho, ho?  No, no, no!