Sunday, October 28, 2007

Halloooo-whee! Fun With Inflatables

The nutty season begins again...as the Christmas decorations begin to appear on store shelves, our neighborhood starts to hum, buzz and wheeze with the sound of inflatables. Local retailers are allowed to schlep the big "C" holiday stuff already, but the mean grinches governing our homeowner association forbid holiday decorations going up no more than 30 days before the holiday. Tsk, tsk, tsk. That puts a crimp in some uber-decorators' plans. Christmas is THE season of tacky suburban over-inflation, but by October, we're just dying to blow something up. Who can wait to inflate?

Hence the Halloween Hollow Hauntings. Some of them worry me a little. I assume a witch has needs, and the thought of free chocolate gets me going too, but...on a mailbox? Can't she find a decent broomstick and take it inside?

So the inflatable Santa is in a holding pattern, but Casper the 20-foot floating white sack with an industrial fan attached to his butt is good to go.

And go he does. One neighbor decided to put two of these Macys' Parade rejects out his 2nd story windows. They look fabulous when fully aloft, and the jet engine whine of their turbo fans drowns out the noise of his kids. All good.

The problem arises when they deflate. Maybe it's just me, but doesn't it look like these old girls could use a lift?

My dilemma - do I:
  1. ask the neighbors why they're surrendering
  2. send an anonymous photo to the local paper and rant about our overly permissive society's habit of allowing 'ghost condoms' in public
  3. sit back and wait for their Nativity display




"The Son Also Rises"

10 comments:

ScottMGS said...

The witch doesn't, uh, move, does she? I bet the homeowners association would take issue with that!

Mad Scientist said...

I have never seen halloween taken to the extreme as it is in our neighborhood. There is no homeowners association and most house have Christmas lights year round. But the halloween lawn decorations are over the top!

Annie said...

scott - we're in Santa Ana territory - the witch moves like nobody's business.

Yeah, it's pretty scary in our neighborhood, too. Frankenstein on a Harley, pumpkins stacked 15 feet high, snowglobe ghost....ALL inflatables. My dad used to stand on the front lawn with a sheet over him and that was good enough for us, darn it. He'd jump at the cars coming up our driveway, spooking them horribly. That wasn't very good, since on the other side of our driveway was a cliff.
That pretty much did away with any visiting trick-or-treaters. So we just sat home with candy and watched tv.

Anonymous said...

and what was Paul Bunyan's gift to the baby Jesus?

(unless that's the Brawny paper towel guy...

Virgin Mary: These towels are so absorbent! They soaked up my holy afterbirth in no time! More useful than what you guys gave me, three wise men! ) -insomniac

Annie said...

insom - that's sick. And funny. Not necessarily in that order. Mary looks a bit odd, too, like the cross-dressing barkeep in Shrek 3, played by Larry King. Somehow an inflatable nativity just crosses the too-tacky-even-for-me line.

Anonymous said...

When we bought our current home, NO homeowner's association was at the top of our list. Here in "Halloween is the devil's holiday" the south, there aren't too many decos, but the ones that do put them up tend to go waaaaaay over the top. Our street has one yard full of inflatables draped with glow in the dark cobwebbing.

Anonymous said...

Well, in the south where I live we do go to excess. But then, we're known for being excessive. Personally I think the bigger the better! I have two grandsons who are so excited about going trick or treating in about an hour that they can barely breathe. I want all the decorations out that anyone can find. I'm building memories tonight for my grandbabies. Y'all come back now ya hear? ;D

notElon said...

Mad Scientist, I think we must live on the same street. How many doors down are you from the Man eating trolls I mena Grotesquely Giant Elves? Actually come to think of it, the company probably just puts funky hats on its unsold Halloween decorations and calls them Elves.

Glad I'm a Jew. I can't imagine having to put that junk out on my lawn.

Annie said...

We had more kids than ever this year - hundreds and hundreds of them. They kept swarming the house, nonstop for 3 hours straight. I even had to pose for photos under my grim reaper arch and gargoyle (I was a witch). It was extreme, exhausting, and over the top. Fun!

Anonymous said...

One of my neighbors (just moved to the neighborhood too) had the inflated Frankenstein on a Harley.

I can't imagine what they'll do for Christmas.