Summerween

Summerween takes place on the 22nd of June each year, but can really be celebrated anytime during the summer.

While it's true that I do believe one can begin celebrating Halloween "too early" (a sentiment not commonly shared by many of my spooky peers) I enjoy Summerween because it doesn't attempt to rush the seasons (at least not the way we celebrate it).

Big box stores are already starting to put out their fall and Halloween decorations despite the full-swing of summer's heat, tempting many of us to engage in autumnal daydreams and wistful consumption.  Trust me, I feel that temptation myself.  But just like how I could sit in a lawn chair with my feet in a kiddie pool and pretend I'm on the sandy shores of O'ahu, I know it wouldn't feel the same.  It would feel too.... empty.  Nothing compares to the real thing, the real Halloween.

And that's where Summerween comes in.

"jack-o'-melons" carved by The Ghoulfriend and one of her friends

Instead of futilely pretending it isn't 99° outside, or imagining the leaves changing color, or cranking my AC to "Arctic Circle" just so I can cuddle under a blanket next to the fireplace... Summerween seeks to uplift the summer season, making it more palatable to spookier folks like us by injecting some Halloween fun into it.

For our Summerween celebration, we got a group together out at a friend's lake house.  During the day, we boated, jet-skied, and drank cold beers and seltzers.  We carved jack-o'-melons after lunch, snacking on the red flesh as we worked.  After watching the sunset from the dock, we went inside and made homemade pizza.  We topped the night off with more beer and a screening of Scream (though admittedly, Friday the 13th would have been more appropriate).

The operating room

To me, Summerween is all about celebrating the wait for Halloween and accepting summer as a necessary part of that wait. We're enjoying our favorite parts of summer -swimming, eating popsicles and watermelon, cooking out, spending time outside with friends- and doing a couple Halloween-y activities to scratch the itch.  It feels like a throwback to Summer Vacation as a kid (except for the beer).  Instead of fighting summer, we embrace it, enjoy it, and declare, "This is how Halloween people do it!"  

I know not everyone feels this way, but for those who do, I hope you find ways to "embrace the wait" rather than trying to force the whole holiday of Halloween to arrive earlier.  After all, the real Halloween only comes once a year... that's what makes it so special!