Halloween Rules: Alaska Style

 

Things run a bit different up here in the Great Frontier when it comes to many things - dress styles, diversity of people, extreme weather and co-existing with the {big} wildlife... just to name a few. 

 

Halloween is another one of those "things" that just seem to go down in a different way than, let's say the Panhandle of Florida (where we are from).  Let me give some specifics:

• No real pumpkins can be set out in front of your house prior to Halloween day.  Why?  The Moose and the Bears love them some yummy pumpkins... whether they have been decorated to be Jack-O-Lanterns or not.  And those are not the kind of visitors you want to invite.  How many of you had real pumpkins as part of your outdoor decor during the month of October?  Yeap... that's probably most people.
• Dressing for Halloween requires creativity.  Why?  There is ALWAYS snow on the ground by Halloween AND temperatures are usually hoovering in the upper teens to lower-20s while trick-or-treating.  Because of the weather, it is always recommended that parents buy their kids costumes at least 1-2 sizes bigger so that snow gear can be worn underneath.  See pictures below for examples.
• For obvious reasons {see Alaskan weather conditions listed above}, there are a ton of places throughout town that offer indoor trick-or-treating.
• In the past, I've been known to be a tad "strict" when it comes to handing out candy to kids (be it tweens or teenagers) who don't seem to be in any recognizable Halloween costume.  To me, you need to make a concerted effort to show that you have dressed up in order to get candy & treats.  Well, I seem to have thrown out that personal Halloween philosophy because me & my helpers were practically throwing candy at our visitors last night just to get ride of the 2 big bowls of treats AND so that we could shut the door and warm ourselves up again.

 Happy Halloween from Alaska!