Seasonal (Aisle) Depression//October 190th, 2024

This past week, as I've watched the Easter displays in stores disappear, I've felt the heaviness of the end of a holiday, more than I usually do.

I don't do much to celebrate Easter anymore...to me it's more of a children's holiday, celebration-wise, what with the egg hunts and Easter Bunny lore and all, but I do feel a great deal of nostalgia when I think about it. This past season was eye-opening for me when it comes to the impression Easter made on me as a child, realizing how many memories I have attached to it, though I doubt it could ever be a favorite holiday ever again, at least in the traditional sense. Was I sad to see it end after the wave of nostalgia it brought me? Of course. But that also doesn't mean that I can't still think about those things now. It's long been established that living life by a calendar is absolutely beneath me.

I've realized, now, though, watching the displays get taken down and torn apart and built back into something else, what the actual issue is.

The seasonal aisle becomes downright boring after Easter!

People always complain about how depressing the time after Christmas is. How there are no holidays and "nothing to look forward to". But, even if it is a little early by certain standards, Valentine's Day stuff starts appearing almost immediately once Christmas has passed. And, immediately after that, or sometimes even coinciding, is Easter.

Now, even if you don't really celebrate these holidays, there's no denying that the little toys and candy and things that get put out between January and March/April are super cute and fun. It's hard not to get nostalgic pangs, when walking past heart-eyed animals, punny valentines, the same chocolate bunnies and colorful eggs that seem to have existed since the dawn of time, etc. This year, in particular, I've found myself missing that feeling now that it's gone.

And then, I think about what's taking over the shelves now.

My mortal enemy in this lifetime, summer.

Honestly, even if I still enjoyed summer as a season, there's no denying that the retail aspect of it, really isn't all that exciting.

Patio sets. Pool cleaner. Excess ketchup and mustard. Grill brushes.

Yes, there are some toys sprinkled throughout, but nothing particularly cute or exciting. The same neon-bright balls, inflatable pool toys, maybe some baseball bats or hula hoops or jump ropes, but nothing particularly special.

Yes, I know summer is some people’s favorite season, but it’s becoming harder and harder to understand why. The emptiness and desolation that some people see in winter, I see in summer more and more. Summer is a string of same old, same old, holiday wise. Barbecues. Maybe fireworks. Nothing you can’t do any other day of the year. In my town, people barbecue every weekend once the weather gets "nice". It doesn't matter if it's July 4th or August 12th. It's all just one big mass of sameness.

And as the summer displays finally start to come apart, they will be replaced with school supplies. Pens and pencils, binders and folders, rulers, lunchboxes, backpacks...things that stores normally sell anyway. No excitement. No true moments of nostalgia. And it will remain that way until Halloween hits the shelves.

Halloween comes, and the displays suddenly become happy again. They call out to the inner child inside us all, with pumpkins and candy and costumes, reminding us that life isn't always so mundane, as mundane as it's been since the day Easter ended and the once-fun seasonal aisles became reminders of yard work and long hours behind a desk in school.

Say what you want about winter, but at least during that span of time, the seasonal aisles are festive and fun, no matter what you actually celebrate. But now, in most stores, for the next five or six months, the seasonal aisles will be boring.

Until Halloween comes around again.

Stay spooky, my friends.

The Long Way Back//October 32nd, 2023

Every year I talk about November 1st...it's such a confusing day. It makes me feel so many emotions all at once. Mournful, depressed, angry...It's like a slap in the face shoving us into a new month, forcing us to forget what came just hours before. Last year, I did have somewhat of an epiphany regarding the month of November as a whole, and while I do my best to keep my own past words in mind, that doesn't make today any easier. Or easy to explain, for that matter. I suppose I should speak from my heart. Today I feel detached from reality, as if I don't really exist. Like there is no longer a place in the world for me. Just yesterday everything I loved made sense, and was loved and revered by everyone else as well. I felt like I fit. But now, today, I see those same things being quickly shoved away. Less than twenty-four hours after trick-or-treating time began, it's all being swept under the rug. The season culminated and the world is no longer a place I recog

The Spooky Community Has No Entrance Fee//October 288th, 2023

Something I’ve been seeing a lot this year around the Halloween community, possibly more than any other year, has been talk of consumerism, how much money spent on Halloween is too much, whether collecting is really that important or if it’s somehow required to truly be a part of the community, etc. I’m in no way trying to copy anyone else who’s already spoken on this subject, but I thought I would chime in and share my thoughts, as it is something I definitely think about. Now, I’ve always been relatively fortunate when it comes to how much money I have to spend on Halloween goodies. As a child, I often received money for my birthday, September 8th, at the height of the shopping season, at least as I knew it back then. No, it wasn’t enough to collect the way I do now, but it was enough to make me happy, and you also could get a lot more for a lot less back then. I didn’t necessarily stop to think about my “hauls”, but I knew even at a young age that there was nothing I’d rather be sp

Here’s Where The Story Ends//October 337th, 2020

Everyone has moments in their life when they feel like giving up. That feeling of “This is never going to happen, so why keep trying?” Sometimes it relates to a thing that would be trivial to anyone else, sometimes it’s about something more life-altering. But, we’ve all been there. I have moments of discouragement with this blog. Times I’ve told myself, “No one cares”, or “No one will read this”, etc., but I continue on, for the joy of it. And sometimes, something amazing happens. If you haven’t read my previous post, Have You Seen This Pumpkin? , I would strongly suggest doing so before continuing on with this story. The short version is, I saw a pumpkin in someone’s window when I was twelve years old, and have spent the last twenty-one years trying to find it for myself. When I published that post, I wasn’t expecting much of a response. I was really just hoping to hear someone say, “Yes, my family had this pumpkin when I was a kid!” Or “I once saw this in a neighbor’s window while

Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

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