Halloween is coming!

Halloween is a big deal in this country; this is not news. In the UK I can't stand Halloween. Perhaps it's the idea of cultural imperialism that I don't like: UK Halloween seems like an imported facsimile of US Halloween, rather than something uniquely UKish. I'm finding that here, my attitude to it is different: it's actually quite charming.

What's interesting about it is the length of time, and depth of preparation people are putting into it. For example, at the end of our block here, you'll find a giant inflatable scary dragon, beneath which there's a clipboard allowing you to name the dragon!

Bryan on Bryant

Now he's on Bryant St, so Helen suggests Bryan on Bryant. As a backup, I'm going for Draggy McDragface. But there's a real sense of fun about this which is great to see:

Plenty of our other neighbours have put some effort into preparing their front yards as well. Pumpkins are everywhere, so are skeletons, ghosts, spider webs and who knows what else:

Overall it just feels fun, and the fact that it feels quintessentially American is fine now we're actually in America!

Meanwhile, at Google, folks are preparing for Googleween, Google's annual Halloween party. This isn't really our cup of tea, although I have to admit part of me wants to go and have a look just to see what it's like.

Of course, it's also the Mexican Day of the Dead, and California's rich Hispanic heritage comes out here. There was some sort of event for that down on the campus this week, and I happened to walk past this rather nice display on my travels between buildings:

Even better, the amazing baristas that work 200 feet from my desk are getting in on the act too. I could write another blog about how much these folks improve my workdays, but for now I'll leave you with their wonderful Halloween latte art:

So, faithful reader, who'd have thought it? This cynical Halloween hater has been turned into someone that quite enjoys this rather fun little American festival (but only in America - you folks at home, please concentrate on Bonfire Night!). We're still a couple of weeks away from the day itself, so I'm sure we'll see more things popping up as time progresses.