And life begins again.

It's amazing, what takes weeks to set up, gets picked up in an hour.

After a successful night of scaring the peewaddy out of lil chillin', we pulled up stakes and turned off the lights and ended another Halloween.

Home made props and colored lights and fog juice by the gallon packed into the living room. Babba Yaga, my gypsy witch alter ego, exhausted and cold.

We didn't have as many kids this year, but winter came early. There was actually frozen rain coming down when I put Bryant in his ground breaking coffin. I made him two years ago, inspired by my lord and god pumpkinrot.com. He was scotch guarded pretty good, so he didn't care about the frozen pellets bouncing off his paper machie bones and torn panty hose skin. (hence his name...I used Lane BRYANT panty hose)

Four fog machines hissing scented smoke. My friend Scott, who was the gravedigger in the yard, stiffly stomped after kids, grating his steel shovel on the hard concrete.

"I ain't going up there!"

"I don't want to go to that house!"

"Don't you dare get up in here and come after me!"

"Come on honey...she's a good witch!"

"Could you scare my son. He doesn't get scared of anything."

Just a sampling of those that had to earn their candy from the Babby Yaga.

Three college girls came to the door while I was inside. I had left the cold stoop, strobe at my back, to warm up a little when they knocked. Three fuzzy college kittens. Way too old to be begging for candy. Practically freezing their tails off...literally.

"What do you want of the Babba Yaga?"

All three shot straight up! They hadn't noticed I was staring at them through the screen door.

"Oh crap." one of them whispered.

"Well....WHAT DO YOU WANT!?!?"

The front one moved to the back. The middle one croaked, "Candy?" I swung the door open and moved right into their space, cauldron of candy under my arm.

"Candy you say? Well you're a lil too old I say." They giggled.

"WHAT DO YOU SAY?!" I screeched. They all jumped back, clinging to each other.

"Trick or Treat?" the one in the back worked up her bravey to say.

"Trick or treat..." I put some candy into the first bag. "Smell myyyyyyyy.....??"

"Feet?" the second one says in a whisper, not looking into my face.

"Give me something....gooooood...." I offer to the third one.

"Too.....Eat?" the third one said, trailing off so that I could barely hear her finish.

"YES! HAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" I scream and fill the night air with my best witch cackle. It bounces off the neighboring house and fills the space between.

The three kitty's run from my stoop, shrieking and clinging to each other.

Just as they hit the sidewalk and slowed down, I heard one say, "I wish we had houses like that in my neighborhood when I was a kid."

Indeed lil pussy cat....indeed.