I'm in a bit of a panic right now, because here we are just two weeks out from Halloween and I don't even have a good idea for a costume yet.
I know that doesn't sound like such a big worry for many of you, but for me, it's akin to not having done any gift shopping and it's Christmas Eve.
You can have all your other holidays and holy days - Halloween is my favourite of 'em all. It's the only day of the year when I can dress up like a superhero and not get weird looks or thrown into one of those special white "hug-yourself" jackets magicians and escape artists are always sporting.
It's also totally non-denominational, and nobody is even really sure where the whole thing got started. However, all the stuff we do associate with Halloween today is a big 'ol mash-up of pagan harvest festivals - particularly the Celtic Samhain - festivals honouring the dead, and the Christian feast of All Hallows.
I'm not sure which of those gave us superhero costumes and itty-bitty miniature chocolate bars, but that's my kinda religion.
To get anything at Christmas, you have to be good all year long. But to snag some swag on Halloween, all a kid has to do is throw on a costume and go for a walk on one night. I can remember spending one Halloween knocking on doors all through town for hours and coming home with enough tooth-rotting booty for the whole year.
But then you grow up and you're supposed to grow up!
Thanks to a wonderfully stunted maturity, I never could give it up, though.
I didn't go skulking around in a mask as a teen trying to score candy that rightly belonged to the little kids, or anything but I did continue to dress up every Halloween. I'd turn our front yard into a haunted house, and help my parents hand out treats to the neighbourhood kids, just to try and make the night a little extra special for the wee ones and hopefully pass on my passion for Halloween.
Every year, I still create my costumes by hand, and even turned my wife into a Halloweenie (it took a few years) who actually went out and bought a hot little Supergirl costume this year, all on her own.
She's made it clear she's only going to wear it Halloween night for trick-or-treating, though I already asked.
But for those of you who don't dress up, or think it's "just for the kids," I ask you to reconsider this year, and try getting into the spirit of all the spookiness.
You'll be surprised how much you missed it.
And if you can come up with any good costume ideas for me - superhero preferred - I'll be stocking up on those yummy mini chocolate bars um for the kids, or course.
