Skeletons Coming out of the Closet

    About two weeks ago, a house I drive by every day put up their new giant skeleton to go along with their Sasquatch silhouette that they have had up since last September. The silhouette has small lights along its outline whose color can change. For Christmas, the lights were red. The silhouette stayed up until this spring, but it was still seen standing against the house. Yes, this house kept a Halloween decoration visible all year long. Now, they also have this giant skeleton that can barely fit in their small yard. First, where do people buy giant skeletons this time of year? It is kind of early for stores to start selling this type a thing.  Or not. Barely a day or two later, I saw Halloween candy and decor out in stores. In late August. That is way too soon for such things. Any chocolate candy could melt if another heat wave pops up. In general, any candy bought now might not survive through October to be handed out on Halloween. Second, why are people putting up Halloween decorations before Labor Day?  

    For the past few years, people have been starting to put up their Halloween decorations earlier and earlier. This house with the giant skeleton hasn't been the only one with their decorations up.  Other houses started putting up theirs about the same time.  Sure, some have just decided to put up basic fall decor, but others have gone all out so very early. I've seen pumpkins, of course, but there are also giant inflatables too. How much power is it going to take to keep these things running for over two months? 

    And those were just the people who just put their stuff out recently. Some have had things up all year long, like that Sasquatch in the first paragraph. I guess if you spend hundreds of dollars on a giant skeleton, you want to get as much use out of it as possible. One house put garlands on their pari of skeletons for Christmas. (They kept those up until quite recently.  The people may have moved in the last few weeks.) This past summer, on a trip to Lexington, I saw a giant skeleton dressed up like the Statue of Liberty for Independence Day. Not to be outdone, one local house that always has a huge tableaux for Halloween, kept a pair of regular skeletons up all year long, sitting on a bench.  They were dressed up as Santa and an elf for Christmas. Since June, they have been in patriotic headgear. There's even a teensy little skeleton hanging out in the garden behind the bench, but it doesn't get dressed up. (This house also has a bevy of mannequins they dress up. This summer, they have had a pair by the front porch since Easter or so.  Just regularly dressed, no particular holiday.)

    As of the day I write this post, I haven't yet put up the fall decorations for my store.  I have taken down the spring/summer decor and brought out all the orange for autumn. This afternoon, I will probably start putting this stuff up. Some of it is technically just for Halloween, but I usually hide those aspects by placing those decorations backwards until October. I want to get the most of my decorations too, after all.