Halloween at 44ºN

The people who come up with Halloween costumes evidently all live in very warm places. 

Diaphanous fairy gowns and flimsy little Power Ranger bodysuits are simply not designed to protect small children from temperatures which, fairly reliably on late October evenings in Maine, hover around the freezing mark. 

Every year we face the same challenge:  Convince the children to trick-or-treat in Sasquatch suits.

(“No, mommy, noooooooo!”)

This year Thing One decided he’d be just as happy buying himself a bag of candy and staying home, so we only had one potential frostbite situation.

Thing Two put a heavy black cape over a thick sweater and long black skirt – long johns underneath, and gloves, of course – and topped it with a fun witch hat for a decidedly Professor McGonagall look.  Thus did she, lone among the herd of fifth-grade girls with whom she foraged, stay toasty warm.