pet connection

A couple years ago I was in suburban Denver the weekend before Halloween, going door to door for some community group. I couldn’t believe how popular Halloween outdoor decorations had become — they haven’t really caught on in my neck of the wood yet, it seems — but at the same time I was also impressed by how much effort and imagination people put into them.

Although I will say it was a little creepy traipsing through fake graveyards and brushing away plastic cobwebs and spiders to ring a doorbell.

Fall is my favorite time of year, because I love the crispness in the air and the return (if it ever rains again) of green to California’s dry-brown summer landscape. And just because I’m too lazy to do anything to my own home save hang a fake wreath between Thanksgiving and New Year’s doesn’t mean I’m not up to enjoying what other people do.

Like carve jack-o’-lanterns. Have you seen the creative things people do with pumpkins now? It’s astonishing. This afternoon, while procrastinating on the Web researching an article that was due Monday last, I tripped across the SpookMasters Web site, which sells dozens of really imaginative patterns for carving, including the hound dog one shown above. I love it!

Now, if you want to really frighten people, make a litter-box cake. I have the recipe in my book “Cats For Dummies,” but I notice Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly has it on her Web site, so check it out. It’s delightfully gross, as would be anything that involves instructions to soften Tootsie Rolls in the microwave and shape them like cat feces. YUM-my!

By the way, I can’t put that recipe in our syndicated newspaper column. The last time we did, two newspapers canceled. I kid you not!

Any other great ideas for Halloween? Is fall your favorite season, too? Spare me from working: I wanna read comments.

Not scary at all: DogCars.com editor Keith Turner has a review of the Kia Rondo, a nimble wagon with a great price. It’s on the blog, but it’ll be in the archive soon.