Halloween Howl '96

Day 353

One of my favorite things to do for Halloween is dress up. Unfortunately I am also quite lazy and I usually end up not dressing up because I had no time to throw together a costume. But when I take the time to dress up, I like to go the whole way. I like to put as much detail into my costumes as possible.

The year after I came home from my LDS mission I went to USU's Halloween Howl. This huge party is up on campus on Utah State University and it usually as a spook alley, dancing, hypnotists, comedians and a ton more. Everyone dresses up and it goes on into the wee hours of the morning.

My friend Damond and I decided to go and so we dressed up. I decided to go as a comic superhero (does that surprise anyone?) Robin. I had a pair of green sweats and a red shirt. My mom helped sew on my yellow cape and I painted one of my old belts yellow. I also made a Robin logo out of cardboard and my mom sewed that on my shirt as well. I made my own pair of boots and then found a mask at a store.

I think I did a pretty decent job. I thought about dying an old pair of underwear red to really make it look like Robin's costume below but I am glad I didn't.

Everyone loved my costume. In fact during the howl these Chinese exchange students pulled me aside to take a picture with me. What was really cool about that was that they also found a Batman, Catwoman, Joker and Riddler to go along. I wish I had a copy of that picture. So somewhere, someplace in the world, someone has this picture.

I wore this costume again during Halloween when I went to the local Pumpkin Walk. I went with Damond and a couple of girls from our Church. We had decided to stop by Smith's (a grocery store) to buy some treats for later. As we were walking out into the parking lot I heard a kid call out "Robin!" I turned and saw this little girl staring up at me with her eyes wide open. I smiled at her and walked over and said "Hello good citizen." She didn't move at all. I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave her a high-five with the other and told her that she should be good and help her mom at all times. She smiled and then ran to her mom excitedly (who was putting groceries in the trunk of their car) saying how she had seen and talked with Robin!

I don't know why that memory has been so ingrained into my mind. I don't even remember who all was with me and what we did beside going to the Pumpkin Walk. But I certainly remember that little brown-haired girl. I wish I was a superhero!