I love to go Trick-or-Treating canned food for the homeless shelter! People always give us bucketloads of candy too.

But lately I haven't been able to find co-conspirators for that, so instead I go "mumming." This involves dressing in ridiculous outfits made of paper shopping bags and cheap props. To be the swooning heroine, one must ideally possess a large beard. Last year I got to be the dead horse, with a real horse skull on a pole that I could clack its jaws on cue! We then put on silly plays script-in-hand in the middle of the road, usually involving a sword fight and a quack doctor who brings the loser back to life, with much heckling, forgetting of lines, and shouting jokes at cars who dare meander across the "stage."

Either way, while Samhain is a very special holiday for me on many levels, I'll jump on any chance to clown around in silly costumes.

Love, Columbine